One word could change the world
by xLizziexLupinx
Summary: Remus has a twin sister. Sirius likes her, but so does Severus. Who will she choose? Rated T for possible swearing and fluffiness later on :D
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: OKay so hi everyone. This is the first chapter of my first big fanfic. I've been wanting to do this story for ages, but havent known how to start it. I hope you like ti and sorry if there isn't much action, I was just explaining things to start off with. I will get some action, drama and what not in soon though. I have a lot of the main ideas already sorted out, I just need to put them into order and put stuff in the middle. Okay I'm rambling on now so I'll just say that I don't own anything apart from Lizzie :) Enjoy. **

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><p>It was a sunny September morning, and there was a slight chill in the air. The sun was rising up over the houses of London, scaring away the shadows of the dark and filling every space with a golden light. It spread through windows and curtains, trying to wake up the occupants inside. Birds called from trees, a morning call, making everything more cheerful and happy for such a beautiful day. The sky was clear; there wasn't a cloud in sight. All was quiet apart from the birds that tweeted happily like there wasn't a care in the world.<p>

As the morning sped by, the city started to become busier with cars blocking up the roads to create the mornings traffic jams; their horns blaring out at the vehicles in front of them. People were filling the pavements, quickly getting towards their destinations, hoping not to be in the crowd for too long as it was getting harder and harder to not bump into anyone. It was just a normal day in London. Well almost normal. Today was the First of September which meant it was the first day of term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Many people piled into Kings Cross Station ready for their daily commute in and out of the capital. However, it seemed a lot more people were entering the train station then leaving. Big groups of families entered with trolleys; laden down with trunks, cauldrons and cages for an owl or cat. It seemed all these families were destined for the same platform. This just happened to be Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

It seemed none of the muggles in the station noticed the many families and friends disappearing through the large brick barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten; though even if they had they probably wouldn't have believed what they had seen.

Platform Nine and Three Quarters was busy as it usually was on the first day of term. The scarlet steam engine puffed out white billowing steam which seemed to cover everyone in a light haze. The smell of coal burning filled everyone's noses and the sounds of owls hooting and screeching and cats meowing could be heard slightly over the chatter of everyone on the platform.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Lupin heaved her trunk up onto the Hogwarts Express and sighed a sigh of relief as she realised she had finally manage to get it up without any help. She then stuck her head out of the door to see if she could find her twin brother, Remus. She spotted him a little way off saying one final goodbye to their parents. Lizzie had made a quick get away when it came to her goodbye. It upset her slightly that they both favoured Remus over her, even if they didn't admit it. She had seemed to grow a little distant from her parents over the summer and was glad to be going back to Hogwarts where she could be with her friends and not have to worry too much. Lizzie was starting her fifth year at Hogwarts and was excited. She looked at the big clock which read they had about five minutes before the train was due to leave. Lizzie rolled her eyes. It was usually her that had to be hurried so they wouldn't miss the train, not her brother.

"Remus hurry up" She called over to him, wanting to disappear into one of the compartments so she would not have to keep looking at her parents.

The reason why Lizzie thought they favoured Remus over her was because he was a werewolf. He was the one that had got bitten not her and ever since he had, her parents had always thought Remus more special then Lizzie and she hated that. She and her brother were very close, but that was one of the things that she disliked about her brother; that he got more attention than her. She knew it was stupid, but sometimes she was jealous of Remus. It wasn't his fault she knew and he had certainly not wanted to get bitten.

Lizzie cared for her brother a lot and so she wouldn't tell him that she was jealous. It would only make him upset and that was something Lizzie didn't want to do. Finally she saw him hurry up to the train, trunk in tow and helped him pull it up onto the train. They were halfway down the train looking for an empty compartment when...

''Oi Remus wait up!'' Came a voice from behind them. Lizzie knew that voice too well and groaned slightly as both her and her brother stopped. She turned around to see Sirius Black standing before her. She scowled at him, but he did not seem to notice.

Lizzie did not particularly like Sirius, but he hadn't seemed to get the message yet. You would think after nearly four years he would understand that she didn't like him in any way, shape or form, but no. He just kept on flirting with her and what not. It was always up to Remus to keep the peace between them otherwise Lizzie was sure she would possibly strangle him if he flirted with her one more time.

She watched her brother and Sirius exchange a 'manly' hug and start talking about how their summers had been. It was then that Sirius seemed to finally notice that Lizzie was there. He gave a big wide grin and tidied his jet black hair up without success.

''And how was your summer, my darling Lizzie?'' He asked turning on his charm that most girls seemed to adore.

''I had a good summer thank you.'' She said curtly. She saw Sirius' grin widen and knew it had been a bad idea to start him talking.

''Lizzie?'' Sirius asked, staring into her midnight blue eyes and getting lost in their deepness. How he loved her eyes. They seemed to shine in all the right places and never seemed dull. He realised that he had zoned out and came back to reality to see Lizzie staring at him. She didn't seem amused.

''Will you g- '' He started, but was cut across by Lizzie.

''No Sirius! How many times do I have to tell you? I hate you and would never dream of going out with you. Ever. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to find my friends.'' She said irritated. How many times did she have to say no to get the point across? It was nearly as bad as James was with Lily and she knew how much he frustrated her best friend. It seemed the two guys would never give up on either girl.

As Lizzie walked off, Sirius sighed slightly, before calling after her: ''What have I done for you to hate me?'' He seriously could not remember anything that he had done to cause the only girl he had ever truly been attracted to, to hate him. He looked over at his best friend who was looking at him with an expression that clearly said '_You know what you did._' Sirius sighed again before they both started off looking for James and Peter.

The two friends finally found the others already in a compartment and after about five minutes of talking, Sirius had totally forgotten that Lizzie had rejected him. Again. However she was still in the back of his mind. And Sirius knew as the train started moving and the four friends started their second game of exploding snap of the year that he would somehow get her to like him how he liked her, even if it took him all the way up to Christmas and beyond.

Lizzie wondered down the corridor looking for her friends. She passed a compartment and glanced in to see Severus Snape sitting on his own. Lizzie hesitated for a moment before carrying on. She, like Lily was good friends with Severus, something that Sirius, Remus, James or Peter were not extremely happy about. Lizziewas sure that Sev had a crush on her, but never said anything to him about it. She would never tell anyone else about it either because she was sure the news would get to the Marauders and they would go on a Snape hexing spree. And that was something she didn't want happening at all. She hated how Sirius and James treated Severus, but they had never listened to her when she had asked them to stop.

She soon found her friends Lily Evans, Beth Richards and Zoe Green. She smiled at her three friends and soon they too were busy chatting about their summer and what was most likely to happen this year at school. However in the back of her mind Sirius dwelled on her thoughts. Would he leave her alone this year? Or would he carry on like he had done the last few years? She didn't know, but one thing she did know what that it was going to be a long year.

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><p><strong>The christmas bit was a bit of a hint so yeah lol. Please review to tell me if it was terrible or something. I am always wanting to make my writing better :) Next chapter will be up soon. Promise :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay so here's chapter two everyone :) Again I'm sorry if it isn't that interesting, I haven't got to one of my ideas yet so I'm just kinda filling in the spaces. Next chapter will however be better hopefully :) PLease reveiw and tell me what you think. If there is any character you would like to see more of then tell me and I will see where I can fit them in. Remus will be in it more don't worry :)**

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><p>The train journey went by quickly; the Hogwarts Express making its way up the country and through the Scottish boarder. The scenery went from fields full of sheep and cows to rolling hills which ended up in dark forests and tall mountains. The once calm countryside soon turned into a raging blur of colour. The day soon turned darker and rain clouds came and covered up the once blue sky. Big splats of rain hit the windows of the train as it chugged along; getting faster and faster and the rain getting heavier and heavier.<p>

The night soon came as they came closer to Hogsmeade Station. Soon the train started slowing down and the students that hadn't already started to put on their robes. The train stopped in the station about twenty minutes later and the doors of the train opened, sending the students out into the pouring rain. Many placed their robes over their heads to stop their hair getting wet and the older students rushed off the platform towards the carriages waiting to take them up to the castle. Many people felt sorry for the first years that had to go by boat across the lake.

The carriages soon started off towards the castle with students chattering in them excitedly. The rain beat on top of them like a never ending drum beat. The wheels of the carriages trundled up the road and through many puddles, making the water splash aside.

Up at the castle entrance the huge front doors were open; the light from the Entrance Hall flooding out into the darkness, making it somewhat less threatening. Each carriage dropped the students off in front of the steps and they hurried inside to try and get out of the rain as quickly as possible. The Entrance Hall soon became wet and several people were in danger of slipping on the floor. Lizzie and Lily held onto each other to minimize the chances of ending up flat on their backs. They waited just outside the Great Hall as they had seemed to have lost Beth and Zoe in the crowd. Whilst they were waiting, Lizzie saw Severus enter the Entrance Hall with Remus and the others a little way behind him. She knew instantly that this was not going to end very well.

Sirius was talking animatedly to James when he spotted Snape up ahead of him. A doggish grin appeared on his faces and he motioned to James who was in front of him. The same kind of grin appeared on James' face and they began quickly plotting what they could do. As there were so many people still in the Entrance Hall, their options were limited, so they decided to go with a simple option that would hopefully humiliate him.

Taking his wand out of the inside pocket of his robes, Sirius created a massive puddle on the floor just in front of Snape. He didn't see it and slipped over banging his head on the floor. Several people laughed and many others tried to miss the water and ending up slipping over themselves. Having felt he hadn't caused enough chaos, Sirius made it rain inside. Some of the girls started to scream and ran towards the safety of the Great Hall. James and Sirius laughed at Snape.

''Hey Snivillus, what you doing down there?''

''I don't think there is enough water to wash your hair in here.''

These comments earned death glares from both Lizzie and Lily, who both had their arms folded. What had Severus done to deserve being treated like that? He was a human being too; something both Black and Potter seemed to not understand. Beth and Zoe both turned up by their sides and the four girls entered the Great hall. Severus, who had picked himself up, stormed pass them and went to the Slytherin table. Behind the girls were Remus, James, Sirius and Peter.

''You shouldn't have done that you know.'' Remus muttered to his two best friends who seemed to think the whole thing had been highly amusing. However, Remus knew that two out of the four girls in front of him did not find it amusing at all and was sure if Sirius kept acting up like he had last year that his sister would soon burst and argue with him again. They did argue quite a lot; once a week being the minimum. He just wished they would get along, it would save him the trouble of always having to shut them both up. Alas, Remus knew that would not happen in a long time and so he just sighed and took his place at the Gryffindor table.

xoxox

The welcome feast passed quickly. The sorting had finished with a lot of dripping first years, the feast had be marvellous as usual and Dumbledore had ended it with his usual start of term talk. Everyone was now heading up to their common rooms and to bed as many were extremely tired.

Lizzie and Lily headed up to the Gryffindor common room still talking animatedly as they had done on the train. It seemed they had lots to catch up on. They entered through the portrait hole into the warm interior of the common room and were about to go up to the girls dormitory when both Sirius and James popped out of nowhere and blocked their way.

Lizzie just rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. It was Lily who talked first.

''What do you two want?'' She asked in an exasperated tone. She knew what the question would be and she knew what the answer her and her best friend would give the two boys. She wished they would just give up on trying to ask them out. They were obviously never going to say yes.

''Well Lily Flower.'' James said; his hazel eyes lost in her bright green ones. (Lily rolled her eyes at the mention of the nickname he had given her) ''I was just wondering...'' Sirius elbowed him in the side. ''I mean _we _were just wondering if you two lovely ladies would like to go ou...''

''No way.'' Lily said, cutting off James.

''Never in a million years.'' Lizzie added. ''What is the point in asking again and again when you know you will get the same answer?''

''Lizzie Bee, we ask because we know you'll change your mind someday.'' Sirius said giving her a winning smile.

Lizzie scoffed at him. ''Listen to me Black. I will never and I repeat never go out with you. Not even if you were the last person on Earth. And James, Lily will never go out with you until you grow up and stop being such a big-headed idiot. Now if you'll excuse us we're going to bed.'' She said grabbing Lily's arm and pushing past the two boys. She wished they would just stop asking them, it was starting to really annoy her. They both got up to the dormitory which they shared with Beth, Zoe, Mary Mason and Sophia Newson. Neither girl spoke much as they got dressed and into bed. They all bid each other good-night and closed their hangings around their beds.

Lizzie starred up at the dark ceiling and let memories and thoughts play over in her mind. The one that reoccurred the most was one of an argument she had had with Sirius at the end of their first year. That had been the source of her hating him all this time. He still hadn't seemed to get the message that what he had said hurt her, but she wasn't going to bring up the subject any time soon. She rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes, hoping she would get some sleep and with that sleep, Sirius free dreams.

xoxox

Sirius watched the two girls walk up the stairs to their dormitory before turning to James. ''Oh well.'' He said. ''It was a good try.'' Both boys headed up to their own dormitory where Remus and Peter were already. Remus seemed to be reading on his bed and Peter was searching his trunk for a quill of tomorrow.

Sirius put on his PJ's and sat on his bed. He would show Lizzie how much she meant to him...somehow. He glanced over to Remus who was still reading. If only Lizzie was as easy going as her brother was. If only she saw something in him like he did her. He wished she would give him a chance, and then maybe, just maybe he would be able to show her that he actually loved her.

Sirius lay down on his bed, not bothering to close his hangings. He murmured a good night to his friends before drifting off to sleep.

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><p><strong>AN: Just want to say I'm sorry that I'm being mean to Sev. I don't want to be, but sometimes James and Sirius are just plain not nice. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I would like to seriously apologise for the delay. I have been trying and trying to get a reply done, but my depressive moods have not been letting me reply. So I've stayed up extra late to give you the next chapter. It's pass midnight here now so you should be very thankfull that I have done this for you at such a late time. I haven't really checked over it to see if everything is alright as I am seriously tired and want sleep now haha. I hope you enjoy it as I quite enjoyed writing it. Please reveiw if possible. I get really happy when I get a reveiw or when I get added to favourites so keep them coming :) I promise the next chapter will be up more quickly. Again sorry for the delay. Night everyone and happy reading :) x**

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><p>A week went by nothing out of the ordinary happened. Sirius and James continued to bug Lizzie and Lily. The Marauders had started off their yearly pranks with a bang (literally) and Lizzie had already shouted at Sirius; a new record for her. The only thing that was slightly out of the ordinary was that the three friends minus Remus had gone to the library twice that week. Nobody knew why. It was odd to see James and Sirius in the library as they only went in there to either find Remus or to look up spells for their pranks, however now they could be seen actually working and pouring over several books at a time. It was most bizarre.<p>

It was Thursday afternoon and the Gryffindors had double potions with the Slytherins. No one seemed to like this pairing apart from maybe one or two who weren't too bothered in the houses rivalries. The students waited outside the classroom in the dungeons, chatting and laughing loudly. Lizzie was talking to Beth, twirling her curly dark brown hair in-between her fingers; a trait she had picked up when she was either stressed or worried about something. This something always turned out to be Remus though. She never seemed to stop worrying about him. Not that she wanted to. His Lycanthropy seemed to affect Lizzie a lot, as well as Remus although she would never tell him that. She knew her brother hated the idea of his own problems affecting her life as well.

The dungeon door opened and the students filed into the classroom. They took their seats and waited for Slughorn to start talking. Lizzie looked at the blackboard which informed them that they would be working in pairs. Somehow she knew who she was going to be paired with. It was the same nearly every time he paired the class up. Slughorn managed to quieten down the class before he started talking.

''Okay class, now before we begin as some of you have seen, we are working in pairs today.'' He said. Some students groaned softly. Others looked hopefully at their friends hoping they would be together. ''Now I will sort you out into your pairs and you will begin making a truth potion. Now can anyone tell me what the strongest truth potion is?'' He asked, his eyes darting around the class to see who had their hands up. Lily put her hand up almost instantly.

''Veritaserum.'' Lily said matter-of-factly. Slughorn nodded, smiled and awarded Gryffindor 10 points.

''That's correct Miss Evans. Now today's potion isn't nearly as strong as Veritaserum, but is still strong in its own way. Now I'll write the instructions on the board then I will put you into pairs.''

With his wand, Slughorn turned around to clean the blackboard and then with a wave of it, he made writing start to appear; the instructions of how they would be making the potion. He turned back around to the class and thought for a moment. ''Okay. Mr Lupin and Miss Richards...Mr Potter and Miss Evans (everyone heard Lily groan at this)...Miss Lupin and Mr Black (Lizzie groaned even louder then Lily had done)... Mr Pettigrew and Miss Green.''

Lizzie caught Beth's eye and they both smirked at this. They all liked Zoe to some extent, but she did piss them off a lot. She liked to boss them about and she thought the world revolved around her. She was always making sure her creamy blonde hair was perfect and that she had enough make-up on. She thought she could get any guy she wanted and that was mostly true. The only guys she had never been able to woo were Sirius, James and Remus. Lizzie was glad about this. She would never be able to cope if Zoe went out with her brother, James or even Sirius! This wasn't because she disliked Sirius; it was because she would most likely start to feel sorry for him. Zoe liked to control people and Lizzie knew if any of the boys went out with her they would never be able to escape.

Lizzie sulkily went to sit next to Sirius who seemed over the moon at the pairings. It seemed that James was equally happy. She placed her books down on the table with a heavy thud, expressing that she was not happy for having to spend two hours with Sirius as her partner. She set up the cauldron, ignoring him as she did so. She looked up as she heard a thud to see Severus and Avery had joined their table. Lizzie smiled sweetly at Sev who returned the smile. She glared at Avery who didn't seem happy that his partner had picked this table. Both Lizzie and Lily didn't like that Severus had become friends with people like Avery and Mulciber. They seemed extremely interested in the Dark Arts and both girls didn't want their friend to be mixed up in that. The thing was, Lizzie already suspected that Severus had started to get involved and that was something she didn't like at all.

They started making their potions, Lizzie doing all of the work as Sirius hadn't even bothered to give her a hand. Potions was one of, if not her best subject at Hogwarts. She always seemed to get the knack of mixing stuff together to make something else (sometimes it was a lot harder then it looked), which was an advantage, especially at home when Remus went through his transformations. It meant that Lizzie could brew him a quick healing potion before morning came again and it would take her mind off the pain he was going through. Lizzie had even been asked by Slughorn to join the Slug Club. She had refused however even though Lily was in the club. This was all because she was sure that Slughorn didn't like her brother. All the teachers knew about Remus' condition and Slughorn seemed to have been very judgemental on Remus over the years. Lizzie didn't like the way how he treated her brother at all.

She was so busy with her thoughts and in making sure the potion was right that she didn't seem to notice Severus staring at her quite frequently or the fact that Sirius kept glaring daggers at him every time he did so. Finally she heard Sirius speak and was pulled back down to Earth and out of the shimmering vapours of the potion.

''Oi Sniveluss, stop staring at Lizzie Bee. I'm sure she doesn't want to see you every time she looks up.'' He snarled. Why did Snape keep staring at her? It was starting to play on his nerves. He heard Lizzie sigh and looked up into her midnight blue eyes. Again he got lost in them like he had done many times before. They were beautiful eyes, they really were. They reminded him of Remus, yet they had their own quality and personality to them. He had noticed a grey tint mixed in with the blue and every time she got angry the pale grey would show more. Sirius finally came out of his trance and looked away from her.

''Sirius stop being horrible to Severus.'' Lizzie said, her voice seeming exhausted like she had said the same thing too many times.

''Well I'm sure she really wants a cocky, arrogant, idiotic git sat next to her.'' Severus spat. He wished Black would just leave Lizzie alone. Did he understand that she just wanted him to leave her alone? Didn't he understand that most of her high stress levels were caused by him? Didn't he realise that if he kept being a git that she would never say yes to him asking her out. Not that Severus wanted her to _ever_ say yes to Black asking her out. He didn't think Lizzie deserved someone like that. Someone who could break her heart in ten seconds flat. She deserved someone who would love her and take care of her and to show her that she was loved. Severus knew he probably would never be able to provide that for her, but if he ever had the chance then he would try his hardest.

Because Severus did love Lizzie. He loved her like he loved Lily. His two best friends who had always been there for him. He was never sure which one filled his heart with more happiness. He was never sure which one he loved the most. But sitting here now he could hear his conscience saying that he loved Lizzie more and maybe that was true. He wanted Lizzie to be his and never Blacks, but somehow he knew that she would never choose either of them and that made his heart break a little. Why couldn't he just have Lizzie? Or Lily? He looked over at his friend and saw that the red head was totally ignoring Potter. The aforementioned was gazing at the back of Lily's head in longing. Severus felt silent anger build up inside of him. Why did Potter and Black have the attention of the two girls he loved and cared for the most? Because they did have their attention. Even though it was mainly to shout at the two boys they still gave more attention to them then himself. And to be quite honest Severus hated that!

He looked over at Lizzie who was giving him a disapproving look at his comment. He looked down at the wooden table, not wanting to see the disappointed look in her eyes at the way he had retorted back to Black.

''Sev please. You're not helping matters. You know what he's like and you know not to answer back.'' She said looking at her friend and seeing Sirius' face light up in the corner of her eye as she told Severus off. ''Right I'm going to get some more ingredients. I don't want a word out of both of you, understood?'' She said knowing that as soon as she was out of ear shot they would start on each other again. They both nodded, Sirius adding. ''Anything for you my Lizzie Bee.''

Lizzie just ignored his comment and walked off to the store cupboard on the other side of the room. Making sure she couldn't hear them Sirius turned to Snape glowering at him. ''Listen to me Sniveluss. Lizzie is mine and she always will be. She'll never be yours no matter how much you think you love her. I don't care how long it will take me or what I'm going to do, but I will show her how much she means to me. And just for good measure, James will always have Lily's heart. I repeat, always. You're never going to get either of them because I love Lizzie and James loves Lily and we will do anything we can to protect them from you, you greasy haired git.''

Sirius had turned into protective mode. He would never let Snape take Lizzie away from him. He would never let Snape take Lily away from James. He knew that he loved Lizzie and he knew that James loved Lily and he knew underneath all of that hatred and anger that Lizzie loved him and that Lily loved James, even if it was just a tiny bit.

Severus was finding it hard to keep his temper. He tightened his fists into a ball to stop himself at shouting at Black. In all honesty he knew Black was right. He would never get either of them, but he wouldn't let Black have the satisfaction of him being right. ''Lizzie can't stand you Black when will you understand? She hates you, she always will. She doesn't care about you and she will never love you. And do you know why this is? It's because you hurt her. Do you remember back in first year? You said all those things to her?'' He could see Black's face turn into rage, but Severus didn't stop. He wanted him to feel pain. ''Can you remember what you said to her? She cried for hours you know...''

''Shut up.'' Sirius said through gritted teeth. He didn't want to be reminded of that particular memory. Everyone it seemed, including Lizzie had thought he had forgotten what he had said that day, but he hadn't. He just chose never to speak of it hoping it would disappear altogether. But it never had done. Ever. It still haunted him now, what he had said and Sirius hated it. Every single bit of it.

Severus smirked. He knew he had hit a weak spot and decided to push further. ''She'll never be with you because she doesn't trust you. And she'll never trust you because she's scared you'll break her again. Because you do that to a lot of girls don't you. You break them in two and then just leave them on their own. But I'm not going to let that happen to my Lizzie again, not ever. Do you understand? You'll never get her because I won't let you!''

Suddenly there was a loud bang and a clatter. Sirius had his wand out and had sprung across the table at Snape, knocking over both cauldrons that were on the table. They both spilled their contents that instantly went everywhere. Sirius was on top of Snape trying to punch him with one hand and hex him with his wand in the other. Sirius hadn't meant for his temper to snap, it was just Snape had gone too far. He had pushed at one of his weakest points. Sirius felt two people try and pull him off Snape and at first struggled against him. He wanted to punch the life out of the Slytherin for saying that, but finally he let whoever it was pull him away.

His breathing was heavy and his body was shaking slightly. The whole room was quiet apart from his breathing. He looked over to see who had pulled him off. It was James and Remus. The look on Remus' face clearly read 'we'll talk about this later'. Sirius knew he was in trouble, but he didn't really care. He looked over to Lizzie, but she wouldn't look at him. All he wanted was for her to love him the way he loved her. Was it really that hard?

''Really boys what was all that about? You should know better than to fight! 5 points off each house and a detention for you both.'' Slughorn said disapprovingly, his face stern. He cleaned up the potion from the floor and the table and scowled at both Sirius and Severus who had picked himself up. Thankfully the bell went not long after and everyone hurried out of the classroom.

Xoxox

Lizzie stormed out of the room and up the stairs; Lily, Beth and Zoe following in her wake. They all knew what would happen now. Lizzie would get to the common room (as lessons had now ended), she would wait in there until Sirius arrived and then she would shout at him. It happened every time he did something wrong, so all three girls were surprised when their friend informed them that she was going to the library and could they please just leave her alone for a while. Lizzie would never tell anyone, but she had heard the latter of the boys' conversation. She needed sometimes to think.

Lily knew that the best thing to do was to just leave her best friend. There was obviously something on her mind, but she wouldn't press any further on the matter if Lizzie didn't want to talk about it. When the girls arrived in the common room, Remus, James, Peter and Sirius were already there. They three friends seemed to trying to calm down Sirius who seemed worked up. Lily didn't want them to think that they were eavesdropping and so she led Beth and Zoe up to the girls' dormitory.

Remus knew the best way to help Sirius was to let him tell them everything. He knew the best way to react was to not shout at him for being stupid. There was clearly something on his mind that was bothering him. So finally when they had managed to calm him down enough to get him sat in a chair (Sirius had been pacing before), Remus spoke softly and calmly. ''Ok Sirius, tell us what happened...

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><p><strong>There will be more Remus in the next chapter. Promise :) I hope you like this story. Tell me you do, it will make me feel better :D<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. It's not my best, but I needed some talking time between the character. We have lots of Remus in this one yay :) Just so you know I'm going to do everything as close to date as possible so the full moons thatI do on here will be the actull dates. Enjoy.**

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><p>Remus listened to Sirius as he told the story about what had happened in Potions. He felt sorry for his best friend. He knew how much Sirius liked his sister and to find out someone (who was basically your worst enemy) liked her too... it must be extremely down grading. Remus knew he probably wouldn't like the idea of Sirius going out with Lizzie, but it would be much better then Severus. He didn't have as much of a problem with the Slytherin as his friends did, but he would still not like it if they went out. Remus bowed his head, a wave of fear came across him as he realised what could potentially happen to his sister: bullying, isolation from her friends... No it was too much. The pressure built up inside him, he felt like he should burst. Lizzie couldn't go out with Severus, it wouldn't be right. She was his little sister after all (she was like six minutes younger than him) and he could never let her go through all of that.<p>

He looked over at his best friend to see a sad look on his face. Remus wished he could help Sirius, but knew the only way to do that was to get Lizzie to talk to him. Remus, who hadn't heard the conversation between Sirius and Severus, had seen his sister listen to the end of it. He had seen the look on her face afterwards; a mixture of shock, terror, but also a slight hint of happiness. Remus had noticed that Lizzie hadn't come in with Lily, Beth and Zoe and concluded that she was probably in the library. He would go talk with his sister after he had finished talking to Sirius.

''Look Sirius, first I want to say that I know it was hard, but you shouldn't have retaliated.'' Sirius was about to open his mouth to argue, but Remus cut across him. ''No Sirius! You shouldn't have. You know he only did it for fun.''

''But Remus, didn't you hear what I said to you? Didn't you hear what he said about Lizzie? About _your_ sister? He...l...loves her Rem. Him saying he loves her is nearly as bad as James saying he hates Lily, Quidditch and pranking all put together. He said I would never get her, though that part is probably true. It's all my fault she hates me. It's all my fault and there's nothing I can do to make it better...'' Sirius trailed off and looked down at the floor. The fire was dancing making the shadows dance as well. There was a low murmur of people talking within the common room, but it seemed no one was taking any interest into what they were talking about.

Sirius felt the sofa sag next to him and looked up to see James now sitting next to him and looking at him, worry etched on his face. Sirius glanced over at Remus who was sat in an armchair next to the sofa. He too looked slightly concerned for his friend. Sirius suddenly felt a wave of gratitude to his friends. After four years he had known they were always there to help him, but every time they showed they would help, Sirius couldn't help but feel grateful towards them.

''Look mate I am not letting you give up on Lizzie. There's been many a time when you've helped me with Lily and so I want to give you this straight-forward advice. Don't give up on her. Not all is lost I can tell. I know Remus doesn't really like the idea of anyone going out with Lizzie, but I'm sure he would like it to be you far more than Snivillus.'' James said matter-of-factly, a slight grin on his face.

''She does like you Sirius. I mean deep, deep down she does.'' Peter said hoping his words would help and bring Sirius a sense of calm. ''She probably doesn't even realise it herself.'' He said grinning to himself.

Sirius smiled at his friends, silently thanking them before he turned to Remus. ''And what is your advice Remus?'' He asked. Knowing he had his three friends with him all the way made Sirius' smile become wider. He knew he was never alone, not with James, Remus and Peter here.

Remus thought for a moment or two. He frowned a couple of times trying to think of at some partial good advice. Finally he made his mind up. It was simple, but he was sure it would be effective. ''Leave her alone for a while.'' He said. Seeing Sirius' confused face, Remus rolled his eyes at his friend which made James chuckle slightly. ''What I mean is, stop asking her out every five seconds. Just leave her alone for a bit and then maybe she might see you in a...different light. The reason why you never get her to have a civil conversation with you is because you piss her off a lot.'' Remus said. He knew Sirius would find it hard to leave Lizzie alone, but he was sure it would be for the best.

He looked down at his watch and let the small second hand tick for a moment or two before he looked up at his friends again. The common room was slowly emptying as people started to make their way down to the Great Hall for an early dinner. He knew this would probably be the best time to try and talk to his sister, so getting up from the squashy armchair he stretched slightly. ''I'm going to find Lizzie, I'll meet you at dinner.'' He said smiling at them before setting off through the portrait hole. Remus had seen that Sirius had looked happier and so that made him feel better. At least he had managed to make his friend happier. Now all he had to do was to see if he could do the same thing with his sister.

Remus walked through the corridors of Hogwarts towards the library on the third floor. The corridors were lit by many candles and were somewhat busy as people made their way to dinner. Remus took several shortcuts that he knew from when they did their pranks and was soon outside the large doors of the library. Remus liked the library. It was a lovely quiet place where you wouldn't get disturbed (normally) and had lots of places to hide from prying eyes. This may have been a disadvantage in Remus' view as he had no idea where his sister would be. So he started to walk towards some book shelves to see if he could spot Lizzie.

After about ten minutes of searching, Remus finally found his sister hidden in a corner behind some very large bookshelves. She seemed to be reading a rather thick book. Remus slipped into the chair opposite her and watched her for a moment or two. Either she hadn't seen him sit down or she was ignoring him. He thought it was probably the latter of the two.

''Lizzie.'' She ignored him. ''Lele.'' No reaction. ''Lizzie Bee.'' Still nothing. ''Ezza.'' Remus said. He couldn't help but grin at the nickname he had given her at the age of three because he hadn't been able to say Elizabeth. He thought he saw a twitch from the corners of her mouth, but nothing else. ''Elizabeth.'' He could tell she was finding it hard not to react. ''Elizabeth Jane Lupin will you stop ignoring me.'' He said a little louder then was needed. Finally he saw her look up from her book and raise an eyebrow at him. Remus gave her a big smile and reached over to shut her book before she could continue reading.

''What do you want Rem?'' Lizzie asked in an exasperated tone. She knew what he did want though. She knew he wanted to talk to her about what had happened in Potions. Lizzie however didn't want to say anything on the subject.

''I want to talk abo-''

''Well I don't Remus. Okay? I don't want to talk about it. There _is_ nothing to talk about.'' She said a little more harshly then she meant to.

Remus gave her a small nod. He knew it was best to stop asking her to talk to him when she didn't want to. He knew better then to push his sister too far. There had been several times in which he had done this earlier in his youth and now he regretted every single one of those times. It was a miracle that Lizzie still trusted him after all the times he pried into her secrets and personal life. ''It'll all get better, don't you worry.'' He said softly giving her a small comforting smile. ''Come on lets go down to dinner.'' Remus said taking his sisters hand and dragging her out of her seat.

''I'm not hungry Rem...'' But Remus, rolling his eyes ignored this comment. He led her down to the Great Hall in which he felt a tug on his arm as they neared the entrance. ''What about Sirius?'' She asked in almost a whisper.

Remus was almost certain he heard a wave for fear in her voice, but set it aside. He gave Lizzie the same smile he had done earlier. ''He won't say anything Lele; I'll make sure of it. Now come and sit with me.'' He said, again leading her into the Great Hall and towards where James, Sirius and Peter sat. Remus sat down besides Peter and made his sister sit down next to him. James and Sirius were opposite them. The three friends seemed to be quite a way through eating.

Sirius looked up at Lizzie who was sitting opposite him. He gave her a small smile and went back to his sausages. Maybe it would help if he left her alone for a while.

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><p><strong>Hope you liked it. I'm writing chapter five now so I may be able to put that up tonight yay :)<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Look a new chapter. A very early new chapter! I was going to wait before I posted this, but I couldn't so here it is. I enjoyed writing this one a lot xD Just to say 1) From now on we'll be getting into the most romance/action part of the story which should be good fun. It may not happen in the next chapter, but deffintaly in the one after that :) and 2) Our internet is rubbish so my replies may be a lot slower than normal. Sorry! That's another reason why I posted; so you could have some more to read xD. Hope you enjoy. Keep those reviews and alerts coming. They make me happy xD**

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><p><em>Running down the large marble steps to the Entrance Hall, Lizzie looked back to see Sirius Black still following her. "Go away Sirius!" She shouted at him, tears in her eyes. It was around eight in the evening and no one else was around. Supposedly. Severus was watching the whole scene from behind a statue, wondering what was happening. <em>

_Sirius, his face burning with anger, kept following the girl in front of him. ''No Lizzie I'm not going to go away.'' He said grabbing her arm to stop her from running out of the front doors. ''Why won't you tell me the truth? It's quite clear that you're hiding something.'' Sirius said a little calmer and softer than before._

_She looked at him, terror in her eyes and any colour in her face seemed to disappear. How did he know she was hiding something; her feelings to be more exact? Was it really that obvious? Lizzie let her eyes fall to the wooden polished floor. She could almost see her refection it. Little tears fell onto the wood, but she didn't try to wipe her tears away. ''You'd hate me if I told you.'' She muttered not looking back up at Sirius. It was true; he would hate her. So would Remus. So would everyone! (Being only twelve she did like to exaggerate things a little.)_

_Sirius started to get angry again. Why was she being so difficult? Why wouldn't she tell him? He kept his calm however and took her hand, squeezing it gently. ''I wouldn't hate you.'' He said quietly to her, hoping this would get her to open up to him. He felt her pull away and shake her head. ''For god's sake Lizzie just tell me!'' Sirius raised his voice. He hadn't meant to, but his 'Black Family Temper' had come back again. _

_Lizzie looked straight into Sirius' light grey eyes. She felt her own anger start to rise. ''You want me to tell you? Fine, I will. I'm jealous okay. Jealous of Remus. He always gets all of the attention where as I hardly get any. It's always Remus this and Remus that at home, and here too. Because everyone prefers my brother to me. And I hate it Sirius. I really hate it. He gets attention because of his stupid illness. He gets what seems like all the care in the world and I get nothing. He doesn't even notice that I feel this. He never has and neither has my parents, because to them I'm invisible. Completely and utterly invisible!''_

_She could see the anger on Sirius' face grow until he seemed to be at bursting point. She instantly knew she shouldn't have said anything. Sirius was one of Remus' best friends. It was stupid to tell him everything. She was about to say something else when Sirius' rage exploded. _

''_YOU WHAT? HOW CAN YOU BE JEALOUS OF REMUS? AFTER EVERYTHING HE'S BEEN THROUGH AND YOU'RE JEALOUS? HOW CAN YOU BE SO SELFISH?'' He stopped to breathe. Sirius hadn't felt this angry in a long time. How could Lizzie even say that about her brother? ''I know why he's ill Lizzie. I worked it out.'' He saw her expression turn to shock. ''I thought you would be supportive. I thought you wanted to help him, but obviously you only do it so he doesn't realise that you feel like this. He's supported you and looked after you all year and by the looks of it, since you were little. He thinks the world of you, you know. I just...how can you be jealous? After all the things he has to go through. I thought you were different you know. I thought you were one of those people who cared about everyone no matter whom or what they are. I was wrong obviously. You only care about yourself.'' He spat, his eyes full of rage. The candles cast a shadow over half of his face, making his expressions look darker. Sirius looked into Lizzie's midnight blue eyes. He had liked those eyes. But now he despised them. He despised everything about the girl in front of him._

_She couldn't control her tears and sobbed continually. Lizzie could feel herself shaking and looked away from Sirius. He had no idea what pain and worry she felt when ever Remus had to go through one of his transformations. ''I told you that you'd hate me.'' She said through her tears, still not looking at him. _

''_Well I can't exactly like you can I, after what you've just told me.'' He snarled. _

_Lizzie turned around and walked towards the huge front doors that led out to the grounds. ''I know Sirius.'' She said quietly. She kept walking even when she heard his voice again. _

''_You're such a coward Elizabeth Lupin. No wonder you haven't got many friends. They must all know how much of a coward and how selfish you are!'' Sirius stormed up the stairs and didn't look round to see Lizzie staring up at him. He heard her say something, but didn't quite register it. It was only when he reached the portrait hole did he realise what she had said. And that was when Sirius started to regret what he had said to her. The first out of many. _

xoxox

_Lizzie disappeared into the darkness, Severus hot on her tail. He didn't want her to go out their alone. God knows where she would go. He decided to get her attention before she could go any further than she already was. ''Lizzie.'' He called out and saw her stop and turn around. Sev rushed up to her to engulf her in a hug. He felt her collapse onto him and into more tears. He just held her in the light of the doorway, not saying anything apart from comforting words to calm her down. _

_Lizzie looked up into Severus' eyes once she had calmed down enough. ''Please tell me you didn't hear the whole conversation.'' She whispered as she didn't feel strong enough to talk normally at the moment. _

_Severus hesitated before shaking his head. 'N...no, only the last bit.'' He lied. She seemed so upset at the moment that he couldn't possibly tell her the truth. He saw that Lizzie seemed to accept this as she hugged him again. He could tell she was trying to hold in her tears, so sitting down on the front steps he pulled her closer to him and said:_

''_Go on, cry. I know you want to.'' He wrapped his arms around her as she started to cry again. He would so hurt Black the next time he saw him. No one made his Lizzie cry._

_xoxox_

Lizzie woke up to see Lily sitting at the edge of her bed, her red hair slightly messy. Her green eyes seemed to almost glow in the darkness. ''You were having a nightmare again.'' She said softly, answering her best friend's unasked question. ''I was just making sure you were alright.'' Lily said smiling. Lizzie smiled back. She was thankful that she had Lily to look after her.

''Thanks Lils, what would I do without you?'' Lizzie asked giving her friend a sleepy grin.

''Not a lot.'' Lily retorted back, grinning also. ''You want to talk about it?'' Her face turning back into a serious expression.

Lizzie shook her head. ''Not now Lily, maybe later.'' She said. Truth be told she did want to talk about the nightmare (or rather the memory), but she didn't want anyone else to wake up and hear what she was saying. ''Night night Lils.'' Lizzie said as Lily went back to her own bed.

''Night Lele.'' Came a sleepy reply.

Both girls fell asleep almost instantly.

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><p><strong>Both Sirius and Lizzie annoyed me in this chapter. Oh well haha xD <strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. It's quite a lot shorter than the others, but I like it :) I planned out everything I was going to put in the story the other day and got up to 57 chapters. I have a feeling that I'm going to be putting a sequel up. I will probably do that at the end of fifth year. I started to write chapter 20 yesterday which is by far my favourite. I just need to write all the chapters in between now haha. You hopefully wont have to wait long for the next chapter. Maybe tomorrow or thursday. I have a maths exam on Wednesday so I need to study. Reviews would be lovely because they make me smile :) Enjoy.**

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><p>It was lunchtime the next day and Lizzie, Lily and Severus were sat out in the clock-tower courtyard. It was quite quiet as the only other people in the courtyard were people passing through to another destination. No one gave the three friends a second glance. There was no point really. They were just three friends spending some time together. Birds chirped from a nearby perch and the late September sun shone down onto the stone courtyard. Everything seemed perfect as it usually did at Hogwarts.<p>

The three friends were talking quietly so no one would overhear them; not that anyone was around to hear them though. They were talking about the latest gossip that was going around the school. It wasn't something they did often, but Lily had insisted they talk about it. Well she and Lizzie talk about it. Severus was just listening in and commenting every now and then whilst reading a book. He never really participated in their little discussions, unless it was something that was really important.

''Lily for the last time it's not true, I mean how can it be?'' Lizzie asked, thinking her friend had gone slightly insane with all this gossip.

''There's no other explanation for it though. And have you seen how big she is-''

''-Just because she's 'big' doesn't mean she's pregnant. Blimey Lil I thought you had more sense than to believe every single little rumour.'' Lizzie said in an exasperated tone. She saw Lily scowl at her and knew she had won the argument. She gave a big grin at her friend and peered over Severus shoulder to see what he was reading. He hadn't seemed to notice her so she turned back to Lily who was trying to get her attention by poking her in the arm.

''Anyway, about that nightmare last night. You want to talk about it now?'' Lily asked her.

''Alright, I know you'll keep asking anyway. It was about the argument in first year.''

This made Severus sit up a little straighter. He took his eyes of the words on the pages and turned to Lizzie who was sat in between him and Lily. She had had a nightmare about it? She had never told him before about that. Was it a reoccurring one? What was it mainly about in the first place?

''What was it about?'' He asked, his voice a little dry after having not spoke for a while.

Lizzie sighed and turned to Severus. She could see worry etched in his face. She had never told either her friends about the full extent of the memory/nightmare, nor was she going to. The only other person who knew what had happened was Sirius himself. It had seen he had not told anyone about it. Little did Lizzie know, that Severus did know what had been said in the full length of the argument. He had never had the courage to tell her that he'd listened to it all. Not after he had seen how upset she was.

''Oh you know, I was just recalling the memory, although it was more terrible then I remember it being. It's like the memory projects itself bigger and louder every time I go to sleep.'' She said sighing. All happiness and amusement from the conversation before seemed to have gone now.

Severus pulled her into a hug almost instantly. He knew how much the subject upset her, although he didn't know why. Could it be possible that she didn't like not being on good terms with Black? '_No_ 'he thought. '_She hates him; she doesn't want to be friends with him.'_ Sev knew he was being slightly over-protective of Lizzie, even if it was in his thoughts, but then he couldn't help it. He had to look after his friend and protect her from Black. He would only hurt her again if she gave him another chance and that was something Severus couldn't let happen.

''Don't worry Lizzie. It's only a memory after all. It can't hurt you now. I won't let it.'' He said to her softly. He could see Lily smile out of the corner of his eye. Oh how he loved both the girls sitting with him. They were the ones who filled him up with light and happiness after everything dark and sad had been pressing up against him, trapping him from everything else.

Lizzie felt a few butterflies flutter around her stomach. Maybe Sev really did like her. She had always made the assumption that he liked Lily and not her, but now she wasn't too sure. Maybe what she had heard yesterday in Potions had been true. If so that meant that the boy who was holding her had feelings for her and almost instantly Lizzie knew that she shared some of those feelings with him. She smiled to herself as he held her.

''Thanks Sev, I'm sure it will go away once you sort it out.'' She said joking lightly. Lizzie pulled away and smiled at both her friends. ''Thank you, both of you for helping me.'' She said. At once Lizzie was buried under both Lily and Severus hugging her.

''You should be thankful, you'd be nothing without us.'' Lily said jokingly. Laughing, they almost missed the bell for the end of lunch. They got up and started to walk towards their designated lessons. As they did Lizzie's thoughts dwelled on the last thing Lily had said. It was true in her opinion; she would be nothing without those two by her side. They had both rescued her from when she had really needed it and she would never be able to repay either of them. Sirius had been right. She had be selfish and a coward, but not anymore. Because Lily and Sev had saved her from herself.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hi everyone sorry for the delay. I had a maths exam this week and fainted on friday so I haven't really been up to posting. Thank you for the reviews and alerts ect, they make me really happy :D A big thank you to Josie for helping me with this chapter. It's kind of half and half in this story and so you will proabably see the difference of who's writing what :D But anyway here it is. Enjoy**

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><p>Over the next couple of days, Lizzie grew more and more certain that Severus did like her. There were little things about him that she kept picking up like he would sit next to her in every single lesson they had together. There were a few more things that she had spotted, like the way that he would carefully trace her footsteps between lessons, ensuring that every step was perfectly placed. Or he would imitate her, from the slightest glance from the corner of her eyes to the swift hand movements she would make. She thought about his dark, mysterious, captivating eyes and how they would be fixated on her day and night, following her every move, tracing her every step. She knew that she could find it in her to like him more. She wanted to like him more, but she just couldn't conjure up the right feelings, feelings that would change her life forever, feelings that could change her friend ship forever. She stroked back a bit of her hair, soft and curly; it lodged itself behind her ear perfectly. She took a small sideways glance, her eyes watered as she glanced at Sev. His hair sleek and black was covering his face, but as she expected, he tucked his hair back too and looked at her. She felt a small smile creep up the side of her face. She couldn't help it; her feelings were taking over her. She changed her glance to look over to the opposite side of the table to look at Lily. Severus shuffled in his seat and rearranged himself slightly further away. But when Lizzie glanced down, beside her hand she saw another hand, one with blue markings etched onto the back. They were close, too close. The hand slid its way forward, closing in. The nails were now touching; she could feel his warm hand getting closer. She snatched her hand away, before hearing a loud sigh from beside her.<p>

Lizzie bumped into Severus later on that day, his book splattered all over a cold stone floor. Lizzie and Sev both bent down to pick them up at the same time. But she soon came across a book. It was an ordinary potions text book, but she had an urge to open it. Inside she was greeted by notes and scribbles, recipes that had been changed. But what had made her most curious though, was that inside the front cover was written: This belongs to the half blood prince. Lizzie looked up and squinted a Sev.  
>"Who is the half blood prince Sev?" she asked, her nose almost touching the paper as she indulged into another massacred recipe page. The book snapped shut, forcing him to lurch backwards in the process.<br>"No one in particular." he murmured, which is what Lizzie thought he had replied as. They both stood up, and she dismissed him.

From then on, things moved forward a whole new step. She was constantly passing Sev. Every time she caught a glimpse of his billowing cloak as his hid round the corner, she would make a mental note. Lizzie was walking alone along the old dusty corridor that led from the potions lab. She had just handed in an essay early for Slughorn. As she walked, thoughts were running through her mind. What should she do? He obviously liked her, and she couldn't do anything about it. She needed a sanctuary, a place of answers. Her train of thought was soon broken as she saw two Hufflepuff girls coming from the dungeons and up the corridor. Lizzie darted behind a pillar and peered out just so that she could see them.

The two girls were laughing over some witches magazine. Nothing could stop them laughing, not even when a rat scuttled past their feet. Apart from when Severus came up the corridor. They stopped dead in their tracks, their eyes fixated on his face. He glared at them then sped up the pace as he began to pass them. But the girl with long flame ginger hair stuck out her foot, as an act of cruelty to Severus. He flew high in the air, before landing flat on his face on the hard stone floor. Blood slowly trickled out of his nose, his right cheek slightly swollen from the fall.

The two girls left him, giggling, just as they had before with their shrill voices. Lizzie shot out from behind the pillar to Severus' aid. She hauled him up so he rested against the wall, and then gathered up all his books. "Thank you." his voice, soft and whispery. Lizzie then sat down with him.  
>"You ok, apart from the nose and cheek?"<br>"I'm fine as long as I'm with you." he replied.  
>Lizzie felt the touch of his hand against hers, and she then tightened her grip.<p>

Blushing and letting go of his hand quickly, she took out her wand and cleaned up the blood from his face. Not saying anything apart from the healing spells, Lizzie's mind suddenly went haywire. She tried to ignore what Severus had just said to her, she tried to ignore the way she had just gripped his hand and she tried to ignore the conscience in her head screaming out at her lots of possible signs that she could possibly love him...

'_No!' _She thought. _'Just stop it. You don't love him...you can't, he's your best friend.' _But nothing she thought could convince her otherwise. What if she did love him? It wouldn't be that bad...would it?

Finally cleaning him up, Lizzie looked up into his dark eyes and gave him a small smile. He seemed slightly uncertain for a moment before smiling back. The heat between them was getting to Lizzie and she cleared her throat to make sure she could think straight. ''I...ermm, I need to go do something Sev. You'll be alright now, see you later.'' Lizzie said standing up and giving him an apologetic smile, before hurrying off towards the safety of the main part of the castle.

Xoxox

The corridor echoed as students barged their way through, a flurry of capes sped past Lizzie's eyes. Chatter lifted the spirit, even the walls seemed to be whispering to themselves! But among the elated mood was one blue soul. This soul belonged to Lizzie. She was confused, tired and bored. Bored of mixed feelings, of feelings with no answers, feelings with no joy, feelings with no end and feelings for Sev. Her mind was puzzled; the corridor soon became an echo in the back of her brain. She felt herself being transported back to when she was with Sev in the corridor. She felt close, so close that she felt like someone understood her, and that someone loved her for once, and was not just ignored like her family had done all those times before. Lizzie turned a few more sharp corners, before climbing a short flight of stairs to the library. She pushed open the heavy oak door; a musty book smell greeted her warmly.

As Lizzie was in her fifth year, that meant she would be doing her OWLS at the end of the year. With this is mind, the teachers seemed to have pilled a whole load of homework on them from their very first lesson at school. It was hard work, getting through all of the essays they had to do, but Lizzie, unlike a lot of people she knew actually sat down and did the homework she was set that night. The only exception to that was her Ancient Runes essay which she thought she would start now.

She made her way through the mahongony selves of large and dusty hardbacks to somewhere at the back of the library near the restricted section. She knew that this was where all of the runes books would be. Tilting her head slightly she looked at the titles of the books on the spine. Some were big heavy books with peeling golden writing; others were creamy coloured, small books with black writing and were extremely dog-eared. Making her way along the shelf, Lizzie suddenly heard frantic whispers from behind the bookshelf. Stopping still she listened into the conversation which was going on. She straight away recognised the voices.

''Don't you get it? If we mess up now, we'll never get it right.''

''I know I know, but we can't wait any longer...''

''...Sirius we won't be ready for next full moon, it's like two days away, maybe next month if we're lucky.''

''But James!'' the voices seemed to have gotten more urgent and louder.

''No Sirius! We have to do it slowly, you know that. Otherwise who knows what will happen if we don't. All we need to do is get a few things sorted out and then we will be ready, I promise.''

There was a sigh and the voices subsided. Forgetting all about her homework, Lizzie stepped out from behind the bookshelf to where Sirius, James and Peter were sat. They seemed to be pouring over millions of books again. To make herself known, Lizzie cleared her throat and smirked as she saw the three boys jump and turn around in terror. She saw Peter try and hide all of the books on the table badly and James roll his eyes at his friend before saying. ''There's no point Pete, she might as well know.''

Lizzie, intrigued on what they were going on about, sat down in an empty chair next to James. She looked at each of them, waiting for someone to speak. However after about three minutes of silence, Lizzie rolled her eyes at them and began speaking.

''So what are you doing coming in the library all the time?'' She asked. Again the three boys were silent, as though they were scared about telling her. She could see them exchange looks with each other, trying, as it seemed to have a silent argument. Again she waited until she saw Sirius nod and turn his attention to her.

''Before we tell you, you have to swear not to tell Remus on any accounts.'' Sirius said seriously. Seeing her nod, he carried on. ''Okay, well back at the end of second year we all decided to find a way we could help Remus with his 'furry little problem.' Then when we had that lesson on Animagi back at the start of third year, we set upon that idea. We're nearly finished and just need to make sure everything works.'' He whispered extremely quietly, so anyone who would be eaves-dropping still would hear what they were on about.

Lizzie's mouth dropped open in shock. Were they really Animagi? They had really done this for her brother? She knew instantly how this would help him; she had read so many books on werewolves before. _'Upon the full moon a werewolf is no longer a human being. It is pure animal with only a small part of the human conscience. Werewolves do not attack animals that come in close range to it unless they think the animal is a risk to them; however they will easily attack humans. This is why it is always good to stay well away from a werewolf on the full moon.'_

''You, you really did that for him?'' She asked, still slightly awestruck. When she saw them nod, a smile appeared on her face. All of a sudden, any thoughts of Severus and feelings disappeared and she thought happily upon this new bit of news. ''So what animals are you?'' Lizzie asked, keeping her voice down. Quickly just for extra precaution Lizzie took out her wand and muttered _'Muffliato'_ so that any passer-by could not hear their conversation. When she had done the spell she turned about to the three boys and waited for them to continue.

''Well I'm a stag, Sirius a dog and Peter a rat.'' James explained. After that he went into all of that they had had to do and what difficulties they had to overcome. After about half an hour of explaining and Lizzie helping them about a bit, she finally announced that she needed to find Lily as she soon would have finished her prefect duty. Biding goodbye to the three boys, Lizzie exited the library feeling much happier then when she had entered it. From that moment onwards, Lizzie respected the soon to be Marauders a little more than she had done.

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><p><strong>Ps: The next chapter is an amazing one. Get ready for some shock :D<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello everyone. Sorry for the wait . I hope you like this chapter, it's like a mini milestone for me so yay :) I hop you enjoy it.**

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><p><em>21<em>_st__ September 1975_

'_Dear diary. Today has been somewhat...eventful. It really is amazing how much action can be held in the span of just a few hours. At breakfast Lily shouted at James which wasn't really surprising. It was all about him being an irresponsible idiot and not caring about anyone else other than himself. James actually argued back saying that he did care for other people, it was just that some of them didn't realise that he did. Lily had been in shock that he had actually argued back and didn't try to argue back at him. I know James hadn't meant to snap at Lily, it was just he wasn't really in a good mood. Last night was the full moon and Remus had hurt himself pretty badly. James was blaming himself for that. After all, he had said for them to wait to be with Remus for the full moon. Nobody blamed him though. Well I mean me; Sirius and Peter didn't blame him. It wasn't his fault that Rem had had a bad night. That always happened once in a while. _

_The second thing that happened was that Sirius had a go at Peter for a reason I wasn't entirely sure about. It seemed to consist of several reasons that had apparently been bugging him for a long time. James then snapped at Sirius for being stupid. It seemed all three boys were on edge today. Oh well in my opinion it might do them some good to not prank and be stupid with each other for at least one day. _

_I feel slightly disappointed in myself for not going to see Remus as he is still in the hospital wing. I really wanted to, but at both break and lunch I had been pulled along by Severus and Lily. I honestly just wanted to go and see if my brother was alright, but what excuse could I make to both of them? I have a feeling that Lily knows about Remus. She always asks me if he's alright and how he's doing. I don't think Rem would mind if Lily did know. At least I would have someone to confide in about the issue except James, Peter or Sirius. I mean I don't mind talking to James about it. But whenever I try, Sirius just comes and interrupts us. _

_That was another thing that happened today. Sirius. One minute he's all over me trying to make me say yes about going out with him, the next he's yelling at me because I haven't gone to see Remus yet. I mean I have never known someone whose moods change that quickly. It really was unbelievable. He kept trying to flirt with me and then all of a sudden he asked if I had gone to the hospital wing to see Remus. I was truthful and said not yet and he just flipped. Something about how would I feel if I was ill and someone extremely close to me didn't visit me. I replied back with that I had no chance to escape at lunch or break. But to him, apparently that was no excuse. In the end he told me that I cared too much about 'future death eaters' and everyone else apart from my own brother. After that he went on about me being selfish. Remus should never think highly about me apparently and I just always make the situations worse. _

_What does he know! He doesn't realise that every full moon I can't bloody sleep because I'm too worried about Remus. He doesn't realise that I take more care of him then our parents do. He doesn't understand that I would do absolutely anything to make sure he wouldn't have to go through his transformation, even if it was just once. Sirius went on to say that I was exactly like I was back in first year. What he said surprised us both I think. I knew he hadn't meant to say it, but it still upset me. I just walked off not bothering to shout back at him. I could feel the tears swell up inside of me. Thankfully I didn't cry though. I hate Sirius sometimes, I really do. He doesn't understand that I'm scared out of my wits every full moon because I have no idea how much Rem is going to do to himself and if he'll survive the next morning. He just thinks I don't care and that I'm heartless. I dunno maybe I am. Maybe I am still jealous of him. I just wish Sirius didn't have to say it out loud. _

_On a lighter note, I'm going to meet up with Severus tonight. He wanted to talk to me to find out what's wrong as I bumped into him when I walked off. He always makes me feel better. Even if it's just a little bit. I just have to sneak out of the common room without Lily noticing, which I assure you is going to be hard. She seems to be keeping a rather close eye on me at the moment and I really have no idea why. Okay well I do have an inkling, but it seems very unlikely. _

_Got to go now or I'll be late.'_

Xoxox

Lizzie closed her diary and hid it under her bedside table. Lily was the only person who knew where she hid it and Lizzie knew her best friend wouldn't read it. Pulling down the hem of her jumper, Lizzie went out of the empty dormitory and down into the loud common room. Most people had come back from dinner now and where either talking, playing games or doing homework. She saw Lily, Beth and Zoe in a corner and hoped they wouldn't see her creep out. James, Sirius and Peter were sat in their usual seats by the fire, but they weren't really talking to one another. Although many of the Gryffindors found this unusual, no one asked the three boys about the subject.

Stepping out of the portrait hole and out into the corridor, Lizzie had a sudden motion to head over to the hospital wing. However she could always do that after she had talked with Severus. Hurrying down the corridor, Lizzie came across the odd person and greeted them nicely. Several portraits waved at her as she went along corridors and down several flights of stairs. Many times she thought she heard footsteps behind her, but looking back could see no one. She expected it to be her imagination.

As she arrived near the Entrance Hall, she saw Sev sitting on the marble stairs. A smile lightened up her face and she slowly went down the steps towards him. She sat down next to him which made him jump. He had obviously not heard her coming. Everything else was silent around them. No one was there apart from a few portraits. The candles shone for all they were worth, casting an orange light on the two teenagers below.

''You alright Lizzie?'' Severus asked, his voice filled with a sense of caring. His black cloak was wrapped around him and he slowly, very carefully moved an inch closer to Lizzie. He knew she wasn't alright. From the state he had seen her earlier he was one hundred percent sure that she wasn't alright, but to him it would only confirm it if she actually said it.

Lizzie thought about her answer. She wanted to say that yes she was okay. But she knew that it would be a lie. She wasn't alright in the slightest. She didn't know why she felt so bad but she did. ''Not really Sev.'' She said quietly as though speaking too loud would break the silence and the peace. She looked into his dark eyes. They were so full of mystery and surprise. She knew that there was so much these eyes had seen and witnessed and so many stories could be told by them. She knew what it felt like to have to hide what you were thinking and feeling and for once she really wanted someone who would understand what she was going through and someone to tell her that everything would be alright.

''Tell me what's wrong then.'' Severus said reaching out to touch her hand, yet pulling it away at the last minute. He didn't know why but he felt so...safe and secure with Lizzie around. He knew that if she was here then everything would be better. He could see her hesitate before answering him.

''It's just...Sirius. He doesn't really understand where I'm coming from. He doesn't understand what I'm going through and why I feel how I do. I want him to realise just once because then maybe, just maybe he'll realise what he's put me through. Sometimes he drives me so crazy. It's like he doesn't care about me at all or that he doesn't realise that what he says hurts...'' She trailed off and looked down at the shiny marble steps. She hadn't expected to tell anyone that, let alone Severus. She felt his hand entwine through hers and give it a squeeze.

''You know what Lizzie? Don't give him a second thought. He's an idiot and I'm not just saying that because I hate him. I'm saying it because even though he says he might like you he obviously doesn't. If he did he wouldn't have hurt you as much as he had done. Just forget about him. He won't do you any good alright. Don't you worry, everything will be alright. I promise. You've got me here so nothing's going to hurt you.'' He said softly, brushing a stray bit of hair out of Lizzie's face. He gave her a small smile and gave her hand another squeeze. He felt himself leaning towards her and within a few seconds their lips touched. The kiss was slow and meaningful as he placed his other hand on her back.

From behind them were a gasp, a squeal and a whispered 'oh shit.' Lily, Beth and Zoe had followed Lizzie out of the common room and had hidden themselves behind a statue. Whilst Beth and Zoe had gone into 'over excited girl mode', Lily had seen a figure from behind a suit of armour. A closer look told her that this figure was none other than Sirius...

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><p><strong>Mwahaha cliffhanger xD First cliffhanger I've ever done hehe<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hello everyone. So sorry about the cliff hanger. I just couldn't resist. There is the next chapter. Also I need your help on something. I need some good pranks to play. If I like the ideas I'll incorperate them into the story at some point :) This prank is for Sirius' birthday so get your brains thinking :) PM me your ideas :) And to all my reviewers. Thank you! The reviews make me extremely happy and I'm sorry I haven't answered them all. Enjoy the story.**

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><p>Sirius stood shocked at the scene, his body paralysed by an invisible force. His eyes seemed to be glued to where Lizzie and Snape sat, kissing like there wasn't a care in the world. It took Sirius several moments to realise that this was really happening and that it wasn't just a bad nightmare. He also realised that his hands were shaking. Out of anger? Shock? He didn't know. He closed this mouth which seemed to have sprung open at the scene.<p>

How could this be happening? How could Lizzie, his beautiful amazing Lizzie be kissing someone as slimy and mean as Snape? How was that even possible? He could feel his blood starting to boil. Yep he was defiantly shaking out of anger. There was no denying it. Sirius wanted to shout at them. He wanted to punch Snape to hell. He could feel angry tears starting to swell up in his eyes. Lizzie should be kissing him and not that git. His gaze turned to where the three girls were hiding; across the stairs behind a statue that was close to the far wall. He saw Lily give him an almost apologetic look. She seemed to want to go over to him, but couldn't for the danger of being seen. Sirius wasn't going to wait for her to talk to him however. He couldn't say here much longer and watch them. So turning on his heel, Sirius rush up the stairs not bothering to sound quiet.

He didn't stop running until he reached the portrait hole. The corridor was empty which he was thankful of. ''G...Gillyweed.'' He said stuttering slightly at the Fat Lady. She gave him a concerned look as she saw the tears threatening to escape, but opened up to the common room without saying anything. Inside the cosy circular room, most of Gryffindor tower was in there. Many of the younger students however had gone to bed with just the stray second year trying to furiously finish their homework. He saw James and Peter in their usual place by the fire playing Exploding Snap. Sirius walked straight past them and headed towards the stairs which led to the boy's dormitory. Everyone else seemed to become a blur of colour and shape as he weaved in and out of everyone. All their conversations seemed to be a muddle of coherent words and sounds which did not directly meet Sirius' ears.

Taking the stone steps two at a time he slammed the wooden oak door behind him with such a force that it seemed to make the walls shake. Sirius clenched his fists into balls and dug his nails into the palm of his hand. His breathing was fast and uneven, partly from the running he had done and partly because of the scene he had just witnessed. His grey eyes were no longer calm, but swimming with anger, frustration and hurt. He kicked his trunk which lie at the foot of his bed and felt a sudden throbbing sensation in his big toe. Why was this happening to him? He didn't deserve this. Or did he? After everything he had ever said to Lizzie. Everything he had done to make her feel upset...Maybe he did deserve this.

No!

Sirius went up to the wall and punched it as hard as he could. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to feel any of what he was feeling at the moment. Pain rushed through his knuckles and he looked to see that they well bleeding. Cursing under his breath, Sirius made his way back to his bed and flopped down onto the springy mattress. Laying down he closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself down. Sirius knew it would do no good for him to get too worked up about it. Remus was really the only one to could help him out of this state. James may have been his best mate, but she still hadn't gotten the gist of calming him down yet. Sirius' breathing was starting to become more under control when he heard the door creak open and shut again. Footsteps could be heard walking across the wooden floor and stop in front of him. Next thing he knew he felt the mattress sag a little as James sat down next to where he was laying.

''What happened?'' James asked his friend, slightly worried at the state Sirius looked. He saw the bleeding knuckles as Sirius put his hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes. Whilst in the common room, James had instantly known something was wrong by the fact that Sirius hadn't stopped to see him and Peter.

Making sure he had calmed down enough, Sirius ran a hand through his hair (a trait he had gotten off James) and began to tell his best mate the story. ''...And then, they kissed James. They bloody kissed!'' Sirius felt his anger coming back to the surface and tried his hardest to control it. He didn't mind Lizzie having boyfriends. He had only really sabotaged one of her relationships, but the image of her and Snape kissing kept looming into his mind again. Why him? Why had she chosen him of all people? There were so many other people at Hogwarts who would be so much better for her; like him for instance. But no, she had chosen the stinking, stupid, slimy Slytherin.

''Shit. Why...why would she do that?'' he asked, more to himself than to Sirius. He had seen the interactions between the Gryffindor and Slytherin over the past couple of weeks or so. He had hated the way Snivillus kept on flirting with her. She was Remus' sister and therefore she was also his sister (even if she didn't agree on it most of the time).

''How should I know?'' Sirius spat. His temper was back again. He sat up next to James and clenched his fists into balls again. In that split second Sirius wondered what the point was of going after Lizzie anymore. Her kissing Snape felt like a betrayal from her. Sirius would never understand why she had done it. As he thought more about it, Sirius went to hit one of the posters on his four poster bed, but James stopped him by grabbing his arm.

''Enough injuries for one night I think.'' He said talking about Sirius' bleeding knuckles. ''Come on let me get that sorted out.'' But Sirius, being as stubborn as he ever could be, would not let James heal it by magic. So James hurried over to Remus' bedside table and took out a pure white bandage that he always kept in there for emergencies. After wrapping up Sirius' hand in it, James pulled him up from his bed and told him that a good game of Exploding Snap would help him take his mind off of what had happened. Sirius highly doubted that, but thought it would be good to try. He made his way down to the common room, not feeling any better than he had done when he had first gone up there.

Xoxox

Lily desperately wanted to go off and talk to Sirius, but she seemed to be stood, transfixed in the spot she was in. Looking back at Lizzie and Severus, she saw that they had finally stopped kissing. _'Maybe if you had done that a few moments earlier it would have made a difference' _Lily thought to herself. She watched them converse for a few moments before making her mind up about something. She stepped out from behind the statue must to Beth and Zoe's disbelief and cleared her throat to make her presence known. She saw them both jump out of their skins and turn around. Lizzie seemed to have known a deep shade of crimson as she saw Lily standing there.

''Lizzie, I need to talk to you for a second.''

Confused about what Lily wanted, Lizzie got up and made her way up the steps to her best friend. She saw Beth and Zoe behind the statue, trying to press themselves against the wall as much as possible. She suddenly realised what must have been going on.

''You..you saw what happened?'' She asked in a whisper. When Lily nodded, she seemed to go an either darker shade of red. She should have known that Lily would have followed her out of the common room. It wasn't that bad really. It was only her best friends who had seen. However as this thought struck her, Lizzie could tell she was missing something from the picture.

''We weren't the only ones who saw...'' Lily saw her friends eyes widen in shock. She was not going to be happy when she told her. ''Sirius saw as well.'' Instantly, Lily knew it had been the wrong thing to tell Lizzie.

''What? What do you mean Sirius saw? How could he? He must have followed you here. How could you not realise that he was following you? Oh Merlin. This isn't good. This really isn't good. This –''

Lily stopped her friend from rambling on anymore by placing a hand on her arm. She always did when she was nervous or scared. ''Why does it matter so much that he saw it?'' Lily asked. This was something else that she instantly regretted saying. It was never good to agitate Lizzie more when she was off rambling.

''Because Lily he'll tell James and James will most likely tell Remus. Plus he's going to be extra mean to Sev now don't you realise. He's going to act even more horrible then he already does. What am I going to do Lily?''

Lily could tell Lizzie was really worried. She could also tell that her friend was not exposing all of her worries either. However Lily wouldn't pressure her to tell her anything she didn't want to. She had learned that a long time ago. Lizzie was rather insecure about her feelings when you looked closely and so Lily had to extra careful now. It seemed she was treading on some rather delicate issues. ''It's alright Lele. Why don't we see if we can go talk to him yeah?'' This probably wasn't the best of ideas, but she needed to get Lizzie back to the dorm to calm her down. She saw her friend reluctantly nod at her and tell her she would be back in a moment.

Hurrying back down the stairs to where Severus was patiently waiting, Lizzie told him that she had to get back to the common room. She wouldn't tell him the full reason, but she was sure he would have heard what she and Lily had been talking about before. After telling him she would see him at breakfast the next morning, Lizzie was about to set off up the stairs again, but not before Severus grabbed her arm and whispered something in her ear. Lizzie stood frozen for a second, but came back to reality as she heard Lily cough impatiently. Giving Severus a small smile, Lizzie ran up the stairs and she and her three friends made their way to the Gryffindor common room.

Xoxox

On entering the considerably less crowded common room, Lizzie saw Sirius straight away, sat in their usual places by the fire. She saw all three boys turn their heads towards them. Sirius' eyes bore into hers and instantly Lizzie knew she did not want to go and talk to him. Dropping her gaze she could tell he was still looking at her. His whole facial expression had read '_Don't even think about coming to speak to me'._ Without looking to see if the others were following her, Lizzie hurried up to the girl's dorm and sat on her bed. Why did he have to see? This just mad everything so much worse. She would rather have him annoying her every five seconds then ignoring her completely. What? '_No that's stupid'_ She thought to herself. '_Why do you care if he ignores you?'_ '_I don't care' 'Well obviously you do if you just thought about it.' 'Oh shut up.'_

After coming back to reality, Lizzie tried to ignore the fact that she had just had an argument with herself. Deciding that she must be feeling extremely tired, Lizzie got ready for bed and shut the hangings around her four poster bed. Lily, Beth and Zoe were not back yet and Sophia and Mary were not in the dorm. This meant that Lizzie had only got her own thoughts to occupy her. Great!

The more she thought about it, the more she didn't believe it. She was still having a hard time processing what Sev had whispered in her ear. Had he meant it? Was it just a heat of the moment thing? She had no idea. As the girls came into the dorm, Lizzie kept quiet. She didn't feel like talking to any of them at the moment.

Sleep didn't come to her until the early hours of the morning. Not that an early sleep would have helped much.

Xoxox

Walking on her way to breakfast the next morning on her own, Lizzie still didn't feel that she had answered any of the questions that had been going round her head last night. Thank Merlin it was Sunday and they had no classes. Lizzie didn't think she would be able to cope with learning anything today. Her mind was too haywire and nothing seemed to make sense to her. As she turned the corner she came face to face with something she wasn't surprised to see. Sirius had himself entwined in a girl, both of them kissing each other like there wasn't another care in the world. Lizzie rolled her eyes at them both and carried on walking. She knew why Sirius had himself a new girlfriend. It was to make her jealous. Not that it was working. She made a mental note to tell the girl (who was a Hufflepuff and in their year) later that she was only having Sirius' full attention because he was trying to make her jealous.

Finally getting to the doors to the Great Hall, Lizzie saw Remus was sitting at the Gryffindor table. Great! Now she would have to explain to her brother two things. Why she hadn't come to visit him and why she had kissed Severus Snape. Well this was going to be an interesting breakfast wasn't it!

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><p><strong>So what did Severus whisper to Lizzie? How will Remus take the news? Find out next time! Also do you think Sirius went a little over the top with his emotions or not? Let me know in a lovely reveiw ;)<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I'm so so so so so sorry that I haven't updated in ages. I had writers block, then a lot of things seemed to happen all at once and it kind of knocked me down. I am really really sorry :( I was half exspecting some PM's telling me to get a move on with this chapter. But here it is. Finally. Thank you for all your reviews and sorry I haven't replyed back to them. They all are appreciated immensly. Chapter 10 :) Wow that really is an acheivement :) Just a note for Joise. Yes I know the end it more dialogue based so don't say I need more description because I know I didn't put it in there. Right okay got that sorted haha. Anyway enjoy xx**

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><p>Remus had finally been let out of the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey had decided to keep him in all of yesterday, not that he had minded. He still ached a lot from the full moon and he still had a bit of trouble breathing. The matron had wanted to keep him in longer, but Remus had persuaded her to let him go to breakfast. He had had a rather good sleep and felt in a rather good mood, considering that the full moon had been two days ago.<p>

As he walked into the Great Hall he located James and Peter sitting at the Gryffindor table alone, filling their faces with the delicious breakfast which was spread out along the table. Seeing no Sirius or Lizzie, Remus frowned slightly and walked to where his two remaining friends sat and took a seat opposite them. Taking a slice of toast, Remus took a bite out of a corner and waited until one of his two friends noticed he was there. After about have a minute, Remus saw James look at him and give him a big grin.

''Welcome back Remus. How you feeling?'' James asked, stuffing more egg into his mouth waiting for his friends reply. He also was wondering where Sirius was this morning. It wasn't like him to miss breakfast. Unless he was tangled up in some girl, which James thought, was probably the case. But then it must be some girl if Sirius was dedicated to miss all of breakfast just to snog her. After what he had seen last night however, James was sure he would do anything just to forget about it.

''Not to bad thanks.'' Remus said pouring himself some pumpkin juice. Taking a sip out of his goblet, Remus went off into deep thought about nothing in particular. His aching body keep disturbing his trail of thought and so Remus turned his attention on the two boys sitting across the table from him. ''Where's Sirius?'' He asked. His other best friend would never miss breakfast unless it was for an extremely important reason.

''Merlin knows. He was up early this morning, said something about seeing someone I think. I was still half asleep so I wasn't really playing attention to what he was saying. '' James said gazing over at Lily who was talking to Beth and Zoe. They seemed to be having a very hushed conversation and James had an idea of what they were talking about.

Remus frowned at this piece of news, but didn't really think anything of it. It was usually like Sirius to meet up with some girl early in the morning. After looking around the Great Hall again, he noticed that his sister still hadn't come for breakfast. Frowning again slightly he turned back to James who seemed to be watching him instead of Lily now. Peter was still stuffing his face with food as always. ''Where's Lizzie?'' He asked James, watching the door from the Entrance Hall, just in case she came in. Remus noticed that his friend seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering his question.

''I don't know. She should be here soon I expect.'' James said running a hand through his hair, feeling somewhat nervous. He couldn't tell Remus what had happened last night. He would have to leave that to Lizzie. Although, James suspected that she would have a hard job trying to explain why she hadn't gone to see him in the hospital wing and that she had kissed Snape. He knew that Remus was very protective over his sister and would probably not be happy that she had kissed someone let alone someone like Snape! Moments later he saw Lizzie enter the Great Hall. She seemed to have spotted Remus and didn't look very happy. Their eyes met and James looked away quickly. He wasn't sure what he would say to her after what Sirius had told him. He didn't want to seem rude, but what had been said had shocked him a lot.

He saw her sit down next to Remus and watched her for a moment or too. She seemed to be trying to waste as much time as possible. James knew however that Remus would soon want answers. And sure enough, only moments later he asked the first question of many.

''Hey Lele. You alright?'' He asked. Remus saw his sister nod, but that was all the communication he got out of her. ''Why didn't you come and see me yesterday?'' There was a hint of sadness in his voice. His sister had never failed to come and see him after a transformation before and so he had been very surprised when she hadn't turned up all day. He saw Lizzie tense up for a second before talking. However she didn't make eye contact with him.

''I...I'm sorry Rem. I was going to, but I got sort of held up. I really am sorry...'' She said trailing off still not looking at her brother. Maybe if she had gone and seen him this conversation wouldn't be as hard as it was now, but then...she still had that other subject she needed to tell him. However, Lizzie couldn't bring herself to say anything. She didn't know how. Her eyes travelled over to the Slytherin table where Severus sat. He glanced up and saw her watching him. Lizzie gave him a look which clearly meant _'we need to talk'._ And they did indeed need to talk. So much was going through her mind at the moment that she really needed to let it all out.

As she was looking upon the Severus she could see him return to what seemed to be a conversation with Avery and Mulciber. Lizzie frowned at this. What was he doing talking to them again? That was another thing she would have to talk to him about. With Voldemort growing in power and him slowly winning, he was said to be recruiting more followers. Rumours had spread saying that he was slowly reaching out to the younger generation.

Whilst Lizzie mulled over these facts, she didn't realise Sirius had entered the Great Hall. She only noticed he was in the same room as her when he slumped out next to James. His hair was messy, tie was loose and the first two buttons on his shirt were undone. Lizzie ignored him, looking down at the table now. There was an awkward silence in which she knew James and Remus were exchanging glances. Lizzie prayed Sirius would keep his mouth shut about last night, but knew he probably wouldn't. She couldn't ask him to either because that would make Remus suspicious and plus she didn't want to sound needy or anything like that. However the silence didn't last long as Sirius began to speak. As he did, Lizzie felt her stomach drop.

''You told him?'' Sirius spat, not looking at Lizzie. He was angry. He had come to the conclusion that his feelings towards Lizzie were anger and nothing else. He seemed to attack the bacon on his plate with his fork as he waited for her answer.

Lizzie glared at Sirius although he couldn't see. She clenched her fists to calm herself down. ''No I haven't and it's really none of his business. Or yours for that matter.'' She glanced over at James who could tell that either one was going too exploded in a moment. Lizzie felt a hand on her arm and looked over to see her brother with a confused look on his face.

''What's none of my business? '' He asked. He was waiting for his sister to answer, but instead it was Sirius who replied.

''She kissed Snivillus last night.'' He said a small growl in the base of his throat.

Remus' hand fell to his side. Had he just heard correctly? ''Wh...what?'' He stuttered. He saw Lizzie glare daggers at Sirius. ''Really Lizzie?'' He turned to his sister, who he saw looked like she would erupt with anger at any possible moment.

''Yes really Remus! There's nothing wrong with me kissing him. I have free reign to kiss anyone I want to! It's none of your business of who I go out with you know.'' She got up from the table and slung her bag over her shoulder. Not looking back at the four friends, Lizzie sped out of the Great Hall, but before she had gotten half way along the Gryffindor table, Sirius shouted out after her:

''For the record, it is my business of who you kiss and go out with. Don't come running to me when he breaks your heart Lupin.'' He then turned back to his breakfast, ready to ignore everyone around him when he heard Lizzie call back at him; 'Don't worry I won't.' He could feel Remus glaring at him, but Sirius didn't care. All he did care about was keeping his emotions caged up so he wouldn't shout aimlessly at his friends.

Lizzie stopped just within the Entrance Hall. That hadn't gone very well, but it had been better than she had expected it to be. After a moment or two, Lizzie realised two things. One, Sirius had called her by her last name only, something he had never done before and two he had said _when_ he breaks your heart, not _if_ he breaks your heart. This made her think and it made her realise that Sirius was wrong. Severus would never hurt her on purpose, she was sure of that. He didn't know what he was talking about. _'Prick'_ she thought to herself. Lizzie suddenly heard footsteps coming out of the Great Hall and for a moment thought they would be Remus', but no, it was Severus.

The first thing Snape did was pull her into a hug. He had no idea what had happened at the Gryffindor table, but after seeing her walk out, he knew it would probably have something to do with Black. He held her in his arms for a moment of two, not wanting to let go. Severus knew Lizzie was angry. He had seen it in her facial expression and he knew the best thing to do was not to talk to her until she talked to him.

''He's such an idiot Sev!'' Lizzie muttered hugging him tighter. She knew he would understand that she was talking about Sirius. It was always Sirius who acted like an idiot. ''Why did he have to see us last night? It would have been so different if he hadn't.''

Severus felt perplexed for a moment. Black had seen them? Well that was new on him. ''You didn't tell me that last night.'' He said. He felt her pull away from him and saw her bite her lip.

''Opps sorry. Must have slipped my mind. Anyway I need to talk to you about something...what you said last night. Did you mean it, or was it a...heat of the moment sort of thing?'' She asked. It had been bugging her all night. If he had meant it then...what was meant to happen now? If it had just been a one off thing then why had he said it?

''What that I love you?'' He saw her hesitate and then nod. He should have known this would be on her mind. He had said it at the last moment after all. ''I meant it Lizzie. Every little bit of it. I love you okay?'' He said smiling at her and kissing her on the forehead.

I love you. Lizzie had had those words said to her by boys more times then she could count, but somehow the words seemed to sound different coming from Sev. She could tell he meant what he had said. That had really only been known on one other occasion. Sam Riley was a seventh year Hufflepuff who Lizzie had dated for about eight months last year. He had been the only other person she knew who had told her he loved her and had truly seemed to mean it (for a period of time anyway). Now here was Severus saying it to her in that same way Sam had done and Lizzie had no idea how to react to that.

So she just kissed him, because it was the only thing she could think of doing at the present time. She wasn't sure if she liked Severus as much as he seemed to like her and so wasn't that comfortable of saying it back to him.

The bell rang for the start of lessons and they broke apart. They both had Defence Against the Dark Arts next and so Severus took Lizzie's hand and they walked together towards their classroom. Seeing that the teacher was already in the room, they walked in and took their seats next to each other. Lily soon came in and sat in the seat in front of them. She seemed to be all happy and smiley at seeing the pair together. She and Lizzie were talking when Remus and the others came in. Her brother, James and Peter seemed to ignore her, but Sirius glared daggers at the three friends. Lizzie shot a glare back at him wanting to ask him what the hell was his problem. Severus however, seeing Black, took Lizzie's hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

''Just leave him to me okay?'' He whispered to her as the professor told them to quieten down. Lizzie nodded at him and started to take down notes, extremely conscious that Sev was still holding her hand.

The lesson whizzed by and so did the ones after that. There were several moments when Remus seemed to have wanted to talk to her, but had changed his mind at the last minute. Lizzie wished he'd make his mind up however as it was slightly awkward standing in the middle of a corridor for about two minutes whilst Remus struggled to find the words he wanted to say to her. By lunch time there were a few whispered rumours that Lizzie and Severus were together. By dinner however the whole school seemed to be talking about it. Nothing stayed secret within the walls of Hogwarts for too long, and Lizzie was surprised that it had taken the whole school to know by dinner. She hadn't stayed long in the Great Hall. All the whisperings and looks were getting on her nervous and so she had set off back to the common room which she knew would be close to empty. There she found herself a corner and started on the homework she had got that day.

Time sped by and soon the common room started to fill up. Around ten to ten, Remus went over to the table in which Lizzie was sitting by herself and sat in the chair opposite her. He was glad that she seemed to be ignoring him as he took his time to get out what he wanted to say.

''Lizzie?'' She nodded to show that she was listening. ''About this morning. I just want to say that...'' He hesitated for a moment before carrying on. ''...I don't mind you g...going out with Snape.'' The last part was rather rushed and he waited for his sister's answer, knowing it probably wouldn't be a good one.

Lizzie looked up for her piece of parchment and stared at her brother. He had a new scar which she hadn't noticed this morning and he looked rather tired. She felt a pang of guilt for not going to see him in the hospital wing yesterday. ''If you were alright with it you wouldn't have hesitated Rem.'' She said giving him a small smile to show that she wasn't angry at him in any way, shape or form. ''I understand if you don't like it, just don't try and get me to change my mind about it, or his for that matter.'' She said nodding over to the sofa where Sirius was tangled up in another girl. She went back to her essay whilst a comfortable silence surrounded the siblings.

''I'm always here for you if you need me. Remember that. You seem to have drifted away Lele...''

''Yeah I know. I'm sorry Rem, I just...I've had a lot on my plate. And I am really sorry for not coming to visit you...''

''I know you are. Don't worry I forgive you. Just don't forget I'm here alright.'' He said smiling at her before getting up out of the chair. ''Don't be up all night finishing that essay. You hear me?'' He said trying to sound serious, but failing.

''Yeah yeah whatever Remus.'' Lizzie said smiling back at her brother. She watched him go over to James and Peter and sit down with them. She didn't know what she would do without her brother. He was always there for her and as he kept reminding her, always would be and Lizzie hoped with all her might that she could always be there for him as well.

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><p><strong>AN: To all of those who thought correctly about what Severus said to Lizzie well done! I like this chapter. It has its mix of angst and awhh moments :) On one review it said they felt sorry for Sirius, well I do now as well. And I really want him to get with Lizzie already haha. Review please :) I know you love to. **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: If I promise you give you two updates a week minimum will you not hate me for how late this is? Good :) I messed my whole plan up for the next 8 Chapters i think it is, so I'm just filling in the time with random stuff :) Hope you like it. The end if rushed because I may have another powercut at any moment and so I'm trying to get this done quickly. I keep beginning to write the sequal to this, then I tell myself I can't do that as I haven't even got to the bit where they get together. Oh well. Enjoy :D xx**

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><p>October crept upon them and the Quidditch season had started at Hogwarts; so that meant try-outs were taking place for each team to find new adequate players. Many students who adored the flying sport were training themselves up before the try-outs began. Most of the old players hoped they would be picked again. In this very short period of time, all that could be heard was the talk of Quidditch. It seemed that every single student had something to say about the sport even if they didn't like it!<p>

On one cold October morning, Gryffindor try-outs had started and standing on the grass covered pitch was many Gryffindor student ranging for second to seventh years. Included in this huddle were James and Sirius who had both been on the team last year. Seeing as their old captain had left, they would all have to try out once more. Although James had been a Chaser since second year, he would try for the position of Seeker this year which he was extremely excited about. Everyone who knew James, knew that if he got the part he would never shut up about it. His ego seemed to get bigger everyday and although Remus, Sirius and Peter could handle it, some people like Lily couldn't. She had resulted to ignoring James unless it was some matter of life and death like he was hexing first years or playing a prank which she had to stop. Lily tried talking to Remus about it, asking him as he was also a prefect if he could control his friends a little more. But as Remus said, how was anyone ever going to control them?

Remus was sitting in the stands of the Quidditch pitch. He and Peter had been dragged down here by James and Sirius because they had wanted to be watched and cheered for when it was their go. Remus had given in, but had brought a book with him so he wouldn't get too bored. Remus wasn't one to exactly enjoy Quidditch. He had always come down to watch his friends play, but it wasn't like he was mad about the sport like James was. Flicking through the pages of one of his muggle novels, Remus looked around and saw that the stands were quite full. He was right in his expectations that most of the watchers were from Sirius' 'fan club'. He saw his friend turn in their direction every now and then and send them a wink which would set them off in a fit of giggles. Remus wondered how Sirius could put up with them practically stalking him for most hours of the day, but then this was Sirius Remus had to remind himself, and a lot of what the boy went through seem to amaze him.

He was sure that he would never be able to go through what Sirius was going through at home. His parents had always loved him and cared for him; although it was a little less than it had been, though Remus usually dismissed this and he could never think how it felt to have practically your whole family hate you and act like you were the scum of the Earth. Remus knew his best friend was hurting, even if he did hide it most of the time. Everyone thought that Sirius was just a player, a womanizer and a prankster, but Remus felt it was much more than that. It was like Sirius wanted all the attention so he could forget about what happened at home. Remus didn't really blame him either.

Soon the try-outs started and Remus watched both his friends' whiz around in the sky doing whatever they were meant to be doing. Although he knew how both boys would be like if they got on the team, he would like it better than if they didn't get on the team. He could deal with the two of them boasting and being big-headed like they usually were, but he could not deal with them moping around feeling sorry for themselves.

About forty-five minutes later, all the hopeful Quidditch players filed off the pitch and Remus was glad that the try-outs were over. He and Peter made their way out of the stands to meet Sirius and James after they changed out of their Quidditch robes. Finally Remus could go and study in peace. The teachers were coming down fast on the fact that this year was their OWL year and that they would have to work hard if they were going to do any good. Out of the four friends, Remus was probably the only one who was taking his studies seriously.

Peter, who had always struggled with his studies also tried to work hard. Yet he seemed to lack the preservation and confidence that was needed for any of their work. This being so, he would always go to Remus for help, something the young werewolf didn't mind to some extent, but after a time it did get slightly annoying, especially near the full moon when Remus' bad moods were on a high.

Xoxox

About half an hour later, the four friends had ended up in the Gryffindor common room, lounging about in their favourite spot by the fire; although the grate was black and empty as this point in the day. Remus had his Transfiguration text book open, trying to finish his essay that was in for Monday; however this was extremely hard to do when Sirius and James were talking and laughing extremely loudly.

''Will you guys just tone it down please, I'm trying to concentrate.'' Remus said sighing at looking at his two best friends. They both looked at him with apologetic looks. Although it was about another two weeks till the full moon, Remus seemed to be on the edge and irritated at the moment, but seeing as they both knew what it was probably about, they talking quieter for his sake. A grumpy Remus wasn't a very nice Remus to be around sometimes and they didn't want to push the boundaries.

The reason Remus had been on edge and grumpy was because of the whole Lizzie and Snape thing. Even though he had told her he was alright with it she had been right. He disliked the whole thing. The whole dynamic of the situation didn't seem right to him. Firstly she was a Gryffindor, he was a Slytherin. They were two rival houses and no relationship could work between the two. Okay Sirius had gone out with a few Slytherins, but no longer than about three days. He had said that they seemed a different being all together and that the only people who should date Slytherins were their fellow house mates. Secondly he was her older brother (even if it was by mere minutes) and he didn't like it when she went out with anyone anyway. Thirdly, it seemed Snape had greater intentions then just dating her. Lizzie had told him that Snape kept hanging around with people who seemed interested in serving Voldemort. He hadn't believed her then, but now he wasn't too sure. He had seen Snape hang around with them a lot and hoped that was all he was doing.

All in all he wished his sister would be smart enough to get as far away from him as possible. Remus had almost got involved in the sabotage plan that Sirius had made up. It seemed a pretty good one as well and seeing as he had sabotaged one of her relationships before, Remus was sure his friend could do the same to this one.

It seemed Lily, Beth and Zoe was having the same worries, just across the common room. They had all noticed a rather bad atmosphere in the air whenever the 'couple' was around. It was like all the closeness was fake and being made for show, but Lily knew Sev would never hurt Lizzie like that. He had been the one who had kissed her first apparently. He had been the one who had made the first move. So why did it seem he no longer wanted her? It had been about a week and a half and already Lily was wondering if it would be better if they were just friends. She didn't want her best friend to get hurt after all.

Xoxox

Far away from all the worry and uncertainties, Lizzie was sat by the lake underneath a tall tree reading a book. Her back was leant up against the rough bark, her chocolate brown hair falling in front of her face, hiding the midnight blue eyes and her relaxed complexion as she read the muggle novel that lay on her lap.

The water from the lake lapped against the side, causing small waves to form as a breeze swept over the surface and make the branches of the tree sway, rustling the now falling leaves loudly. Autumn had begun and not many people were out on the grounds today, for fear of getting too cold. To Lizzie however, the weather was just right to read, but then she had to remind herself that she thought every kind of weather was the right weather to read.

Turning the page she heard faint voices drift towards her. They seemed to be coming closer and closer, but Lizzie didn't look up from the black ink marked page. If she ignored them then maybe they would ignore her. That's how she had always thought when she had been younger. However now-a-days it was more of _'if I ignore them, maybe they won't bother saying anything to me'_, but alas, that had never really worked out for her. Soon enough she felt someone sit down beside her and looking up from the book she saw that it was Severus. She smiled at him before looking around to see his fellow Slytherins; Avery, Roiser, Mulciber and...Sirius' younger brother, Regulas. Lizzie frowned slightly. So they had managed to persuade Regulas to come apart of their gang had they? _'Well good luck to him.' _Lizzie thought. He looked somewhat out of place with the other, older Slytherins.

''You gained a fine girl there Snape.'' Avery said chuckling to himself.

''Yeah what a real stunner. How did you pick this one up then?''

Lizzie just ignored them and went back to her book. She would love to hex all of them, but thought better of it. She wasn't like James or Sirius who just hexed people for the fun of it, but if they kept carrying on she would think this would be a pretty good reason to make them all end up in the Hospital Wing for at least a week. What really bugged her though was that Severus hadn't said anything to defend her.

''I would appreciate it if you all shut your mouths and get out of my sight.'' Lizzie said calmly, putting her book down.

''Ooo not very friendly I see. Although I like feistiness in a girl. Could I borrow her after you Snape? I could really get a piec-''

''There is no way I'm going to let you lay your filthy hands on me, now fuck off before I hex you into next century.'' Lizzie said, the tone in her voice telling them that they were seriously pissing her off now. Severus still didn't say anything, but after a few moments Regulas spoke.

''Ma...maybe we should go...''

''Shut up Black, we're not going anywhere until we teach this filthy half-blood a lesson.'' Avery growled, pulling his wand out of his pocket.

In an instant Lizzie had stood up and had her wand out ready. ''Like I just said. Fuck off.''

Spells started flying quickly from Avery, Roiser and Mulciber to Lizzie who seemed to be duelling all three on her own. _'Thanks for helping Sev' _She thought, seeing the Slytherin out of the corner of her eye do nothing to help. Several jinxes were cast from Lizzie's wand, at least two hitting each boy. They all fell to their feet, scrambling trying to get away. Lizzie grinned at them and then turned to Regulas who was staring at her in awe. ''What?'' She said him, amused by his expression.

''No...nothing, that was just...wow.'' He said thankful that he hadn't gotten on the wrong side of her. He hoped he would never get on the wrong side of her either.

Lizzie smiled at him. ''Thanks; now you'd better get out of here before I feel the erg to hex every Slytherin in sight.'' She said jokingly and watched the ebony-haired boy run off after the others. She then turned to face Severus who seemed to be also watching her in awe. Anger came blubbering to the surface and Lizzie didn't bother trying to hide it. ''Thanks for helping Severus, I really appreciated it and thanks for defending me as well. Don't know what I would have done if you hadn't of been here.'' She snapped, sounding sarcastic at the end. Then she picked up her book and her bag which lay next to the tree and stormed off up to the castle.

'_Sirius would have defended me' _she thought as she made her way to the Gryffindor common room. _'He would have hexed them all in three seconds flat.' 'But...'_ The voice in her head reasoned_. 'You hate him so it wouldn't make any difference.'_ _'I don't hate him I just...extremely dislike him.' 'Well that's a big step. Just the other day you hated him.' 'I've never hated him...' 'That's what I've always been trying to tell you dear'_

Why did her conscience have to be so smart? She asked herself as she arrived outside the portrait hole. She told the Fat Lady the password and stepped into the common room. To her left was her brother, Sirius, James and Peter and straight in front of her were Lily, Beth and Zoe. She contemplated for a moment on where to go before she headed straight toward her best friend. Sitting on the table they were all sat at she sighed.

''I hate Slytherins.'' She said crossing her legs and disrupting any work the three girls were doing. ''Like really hate them.'' She added looking over at where Sirius and James where having a play fight as they were directly in her view.

''We all hate Slytherins it's a well known fact, but what did he do?'' Zoe asked, immediately thinking Snape had done something. She seemed happy that someone had interrupted her from her homework.

''I was reading outside and along comes Severus and several idiotic friends of his. Avery starts trying to flirt, or what he calls flirting anyway. Severus doesn't do anything so I decided to hex them all crazy. He still doesn't help so I have a go at him.'' Lizzie said sighing again.

''Listen honey, he's not worth your time he really isn't. Maybe you'd be better finding someone else. Like we've always said, Slytherins are a bunch of idiots and they always will be.'' Beth said looking up at her friend. ''I mean there are loads of guys that would take you, Sirius for starters, I mean he would do anything for you...'' She said grinning at Lizzie. Zoe laughed next to her, but Lizzie scowled at both of them.

''Sev is better than all the other Slyt-'' Lily started, but was cut off by Sirius.

xoxox

Sirius Orion Black was a womanizer. Everyone knew it and everyone seemed to like it, well almost everyone. The one girl he wanted above the rest wouldn't even give him a chance and then she had started to go out with Snivillus and he had hated that. Lizzie was his, not that slimy gits! James had told him not to give up on Lizzie and he had tried his best not to, but since he had seen the two kiss it was like something had stopped him trying to fight for her.

He had snogged six girls in four days, desperately trying to make her feel jealous, but it hadn't worked. It seemed she knew what he was trying to do and had told every girl that he had made out with why he was doing it. After those four days he seemed to give up on making her jealous and went back to his routine of trying to flirt with her.

However like always, that wasn't working either and so Sirius had resulted to one of his master break up plans. He was quite surprised when Remus had shown interest in joining. The more the merrier he thought. But that hadn't gone into action yet and so he had gone onto the 'protective friend' strategy. He however hadn't managed to test that out until now.

He had seen Lizzie walk past him not moments ago and between James tackling him to the floor he had heard a conversation about hating Slytherins and how Snape had annoyed Lizzie. Then he had heard his name and he had come extremely interested in what the girls were saying. So telling his best mate they would resume in a moment, he walked over to where Lizzie and her friends were sitting.

He heard Evans speak, but cleared his throat, interrupting her. ''I couldn't help but listen-''

''Bet you could.'' He heard Lizzie mutter.

''But it seems like you've had trouble with Snivillus. I will volunteer to hex him to oblivion if you want me to.'' He said giving her a winning smile. To his surprise he saw the corners or her mouth twitch into a small smile.

''No you just leave him alone. Although...if you could hex Avery, Mulciber and Roiser for me that would be excellent and I would really appreciate it.''

These words seemed to stun Sirius. Was Lizzie actually asking him to hex someone for her? Well that was new. He smiled again and gave her a small bow. ''Anything for you Lizzie dearest.'' He said before walking off. Before he got back to his friends he heard Beth say ''didn't I tell you he'd do anything for you?''

He heard Lizzie agree with her. That made Sirius extremely happy for the rest of the day.

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><p><strong>Finally we have the first step to Lizzie liking Sirius. It's a tiny one, but it's the first. Afriad we wont be there yet. Another 7 chapters to go before the one you will all love. Only 7 chapters until the one you've all been waiting for ehe :D I love writing Lizzie's conscience :D Review please, it would make my day :D<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Whoop new chapter :D I was begged (literatly) to do this and so here it is. Blue Luver5000 this chapter is dedicated to you seeing as you begged. **

** It's a nice happy chapter, well most of it ehe. Next chapter will be up sometime this week, maybe even two new chapters, but only if I get reviews xD Seeing as I've messed my plan up I'm now going to scrap a random fill-in chapter and just carry on with the main plot line which means Chapter 18 will now be Chapter 17 and so you will only have to wait 5 more chapter's instead of six to my favourite one :D Anway enough rambling...oooooo one more thing I've found this brilliant song that I think describes Lizzie and Sirius completely. It's Arms by Christina Perri xD ENJOY :) Much love to you all xx**

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><p>''So everything's sorted then?'' Sirius asked shutting the heavy volume in front of him. It made a heavy thump as the pages closed on each other. Around him James and Peter were doing the same thing. The library was busy but they had hid themselves in their usual corner where they wouldn't be disturbed. Almost immediately the books floated off the table and went back to their original spaces. Sirius grinned as the book in front of him kept dropping with its weight.<p>

''Yep everything's sorted and in good time too...it's full moon tomorrow.'' James said feeling happy with himself as he leaned back in his chair, a smile on his face. They had finally done it. After years and years of working it all out they had finally become Animagi. Well actually they had perfected the transformations a couple of days ago, but now they had finished all the last minute checkups they had needed to do. All three boys seemed extremely happy with themselves.

''Your sure Remus will be fine with this?'' Peter asked looking at his two friends.

''Of course he won't be. He'll probably be furious but then who cares, it's not like we can back out now Pete. Don't worry he'll come round sure enough, let's just hope it's by tomorrow.'' James said getting up from the table, his two friends following. Finally they could get out of this blasted library. He had never spent so much time in a place surrounded by books before!

''See ya Pincey, won't see us in here for ages.'' Sirius said to Madam Pince the librarian. She shooed them out of the wooden doors, a look of relief on her face. She like any other people had thought it weird that the three boys had spent so much time in the library and had thought they were thinking up of another prank to do.

As they walked back to the Gryffindor common room, they were indeed thinking of a good prank to pull. They hadn't done any for a while and it was time to get the castle in high spirits. By the time they got to the portrait hole, they had got a plan all sorted. They were doing this mainly to cheer Remus up as he seemed extremely agitated, something that was _not_ a good sign this close to the full moon.

Walking through the portrait hole they saw their best friend sitting and reading a book. He looked extremely pale and slightly sickly looking. Worry was etched onto all their faces immediately and they went to sit next to him on the sofa.

''Want to help us with a prank Rem?'' Sirius said looking over Remus' shoulder at the muggle novel he was reading. He had to admit that some of them were quite good, but then he would never say that to Remus. He saw his friend shake his head and Sirius understood. He just wanted to be alone for the moment. They would tell him their news later. Looking round he saw Lizzie, Lily, Beth and Zoe in a corner laughing their heads off at something.

''We should tell Lizzie you know.'' He said to James. James nodded and made his way over to the girls.

''Hello Evans.'' He said winking at the red headed girl. He saw Lizzie laugh at her friends' expression which was trying to be friendly. ''I was wondering if I could borrow Lizzie for the time being. It's important.'' He said not waiting for an answer, grabbing Lizzie's arm and dragging her away from her friends.

''What do you want James?'' Lizzie asked as she rolled her eyes at him. It must have been important though as James wouldn't have literally dragged her away.

''Got to show you something. Come on.'' He said leading her up to the boy's dormitory where Sirius and Peter had already gone up. ''We've managed to do it.'' He said trying to keep the excitement in his voice to a bare minimum. He knew Lizzie would be able to guess what he was on about from not much detail. After all he couldn't say much just in case someone was listening to them. Opening the dormitory door they stepped inside.

The boy's dormitory was similar to the girls' one; having the same four poster beds, the same scarlet curtains and the same layout. However, there was one big change from each dormitory. This one was a mess. There were stray clothes lying around the floor everywhere, empty sweet packets littered the bedside tables and the beds were extremely untidy. The tidiest area of the room, she guessed was her brothers. How he could live with three messy animals like Sirius, James and Peter she would never know.

''Go on then, show me.'' She said sitting down on the edge of James' bed which seemed the 'tidiest' out of the three boys'. She saw them all grin at her and Lizzie couldn't help but smile back. She had been waiting for them to finish ever since she had known that they were trying to become Animagi. She kept her gaze on Sirius longer than the others, watching him almost intently for a reason she could not understand. She saw him give her a sweet smile before he disappeared and was replaced by a rather large shaggy black dog. Peter was the next to transform and turned into a small grey rat. Last it was James' turn and he turned into a large stag that filled up most of the room.

''Wow.'' She said looking at the three animals in front of her. They had done a great job and the animals suited them. She saw Sirius come over to her, tongue lolling out in front of him. She smiled at scratched him behind his ears. James and Peter turned back into humans, but Sirius who was enjoying the attention from Lizzie stayed as a dog. ''You need nicknames.'' Lizzie said after a moment or two. By now Sirius had jumped up onto James' bed and had rested his head on Lizzie's lap. ''Just because I find you quite adorable as a dog doesn't not change anything okay?'' She said to him.

James laughed at Sirius who seemed to be in his element. Nicknames...yes they would defiantly need something. ''Well Peter could be...Wormtail because his tail looks like a worm...''

''Very original.'' Lizzie said laughing. James saw that she was rather enjoying having 'Sirius' on her lap too.

''You could be Prongs James, like your antlers.'' Lizzie said grinning. ''And Sirius here...hmm I don't know...'' She looked up and down the big black dog that was enjoying itself far too much for her liking.

''Padfoot.'' James said after several minutes. ''Because his feet are padded.'' Sirius barked in agreement at the name and they all fell about laughing. ''Well that's sorted then. Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail.'' James grinned at his friends. ''Thank you for your help Lizzie, now I must ask you to get out as we are planning a prank and we want it to be a secret.'' He said.

''You can be so rude sometimes James Potter. A simple please would have done nicely. Now get off you great lump.'' Lizzie said trying to push Sirius off of her. ''I mean it Sirius. Off!'' She said and the dog sulkily jumped off the bed, turning back into Sirius. ''Right see you later you three, tell me when you're going to tell Remus. Just so I can calm him down.'' She said grinning at them before returning back to the common room.

As she left, James turned to Peter and Sirius. ''Well we can safely say that Sirius was not the only person who enjoyed that little closeness between the two of them.'' He saw Sirius' face light up considerably. Could it be that Lizzie was starting to see past Sirius' arrogant and cocky self? No that was impossible...yet she had seemed to become friendlier to him, but James would keep that to himself.

Xoxox

The prank had been scheduled for dinner time and the Marauders (they had come up with a name for them all) had gotten everything ready. Being the 'professional' pranksters that they were, they didn't even let a grin leak out every time they thought about the prank. James kept looking at his watch counting down the minutes until the joke would be in full swing.

The babble in the Great Hall was as normal as it always was until a shriek came from the Ravenclaw table. Then another and another. People were jumping back in shock as their food seemed to have grown face and where staring up at them with different expressions. Then suddenly they all started to sing different tunes; some were quite rude and only the people who knew the boys well knew it was to the people they didn't like much. So that meant the whole Slytherin table had rather horrible songs being said to them.

It did thankfully cheer Remus up which had been their main goal in the first place. Lily and Lizzie had love ballads being sung to them and they both looked over to James and Sirius who had 'innocent' looks on their faces. The two girls rolled their eyes at the boys and ignored the singing food. Finally it seemed every song had finished, apart from one:

_Your hair is so greasy,_

_Your nose is so long,_

_Every body part could reach it including your tongue._

_I just want to say,_

_Without further dismay _

_That Snivillus oh Snivillus; when Padfoot's around,_

_He will get his way!_

A round of applause rippled through the Great Hall followed with a lot of laughing; even Lizzie and Lily were clapping along with everyone else. Over all it had been a pretty good dinner time.

Xoxox

As most people drifted off to their common rooms, Lizzie waited until Sirius had finished. When he had she walked beside him in silence before she had an idea of what she was going to say. ''That song that you did in there for Severus...what did you mean by it. The end bit I mean?'' She asked him.

''Well you'll just have to wait and see wont you.'' He said smiling a cheesy grin at her. It dropped however when he saw Lizzie wasn't amused. ''Look I'm not going to do anything too bad okay.'' He said, but this seemed to frustrate her further.

''What has he ever done to you? Really Sirius, I know it's hard to like everyone, but why are you extra horrible to him?'' She asked stopping in the middle of the corridor, grabbing Sirius' arm and making him stop too.

''Because Lizzie, he's not a very nice person. You think he's nice and all that, but once you look inside he's just the same as every Slytherin. He doesn't love you; I don't care what he says. He has a more evil motive I can tell. If you love someone you don't just ignore them, you speak to them as much as possible. You don't just stand back when the person you love is in trouble, you help them out. You don't check out other girls when you think the other person isn't looking. Seriously Lizzie what the hell do you see in him?'' Sirius asked her.

At that moment Severus walked by with his group of Slytherins not noticing that Lizzie was there, but staring up ahead. Following his gaze she saw he was staring at...Lily. It was the same look he had been looking at herself with about a month ago. ''Sometimes I have no bloody idea...'' She said through gritted teeth before storming off and not waiting for Sirius.

Merlin he would so hurt that Slytherin next time he saw him, Sirius thought as he made after her.

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><p><strong>So excited about next chapter eeee. May start writing it now. Blue Luver5000, see Sirius didn't hex Severus like I was planning him to do. So for your sake I was somewhat nice to Sev :) Next chapter I may not be so forgiving though; you'll see why thought ehe. Review please :)<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: HAPPY FRIDAY 13TH xD Here's a lovely new chapter for you :) You may hate me for what I did in this...hope you don't, but you might. This chapter was making me almost tear up at the end. I feel sorry for both Severus and Lizzie. You'll see why when you read. So read it :P Enjoy xx**

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><p>The full moon came and went. After many hours of persuading, Remus finally gave in to letting the boys be with him when he transformed. All in all it was a rather successful trip. Remus hadn't hurt himself as much as he normally would have done and Madam Pomfrey was pleased that he was 'making progress'. Sirius, James and Peter were extremely happy with themselves for helping their friend and had wanted to have a party to celebrate their success. Unfortunately Remus wouldn't let them, but said they would be allowed to celebrate if they won their first Quidditch match. James and Sirius were determined to win seeing as they had been added to this years team; James getting his place as Seeker and Sirius regaining his old position as Beater. The first Quidditch match was the day before Sirius' birthday in November and so they were training extremely hard.<p>

Lizzie was happy that her brother hadn't gone against the thought of his friends becoming Animagi which she had seriously thought he would do. She had heard he had also gained a nickname of his own; Moony. The four Marauders were causing as much havoc as ever, not that she minded. She wasn't a prefect and so it didn't really bother her that they were doing prank after prank.

Lily was a different story however. She seemed to be run off her feet with trying to catch them in the act of mischief. She hadn't been successful though and was starting to get extremely stressed. It was always bad news when Lily got stressed. It was all because of James. He had been trying to get her to go out with him a lot more lately and was starting to seriously get on her nerves. Everyone had tried to tell him to stop before she practically killed him, but he wouldn't listen.

''Lily just calm down _please_. It's no good to keep getting worked up about him.'' Lizzie said one Charms lesson. Her best friend was staring daggers at the boy in front of her as though it would burn a hole through his rather big head. Everyone was trying their hardest to calm Lily down, but nothing seemed to be working.

''But he's such an arrogant toe-rag Lele, how do you expect me to stay calm when he pisses me off every five frickin' minutes?'' Lily hissed. She didn't know how Lizzie could possibly be fine with James, yet she seemed to be talking to him more lately. ''Doesn't he drive you crazy?'' She asked whilst scribbling down some notes.

Lizzie thought for a moment. In all truth James didn't drive her crazy. Not any more. None of them did really. It was all because of what they had done for Remus. They had accepted what he was, they had done their best to make him happy and now they had become illegal Animagi just to help him cope through his transformations.

''To be honest no he doesn't drive me crazy. Must be just you Lils. He only drives you crazy because you li-''

''Don't you dare finish that sentence Elizabeth Jane Lupin''. Lily growled glaring at Lizzie. The latter was trying to stifle laughter. Lily went back to her work ignoring her best friends' constant apologies.

''Sorry Lil, I just couldn't help it…Lily talk to me…pleaseeee…Lily Flower I'm sorry. Forgive me…please…no okay then fine, I'll just go and tell James that you li-''

She was silenced when Lily hit her textbook over her head. There was silence between the two girls before they both burst out laughing. Thankfully the best of the class were talking loudly so no one heard or stared at them. ''That hurt Lils. How could you do that to your best friend?'' Lizzie said rubbing the place where Lily had hit her in mock hurt. The two friends grinned at each other just as the bell went for the end of lesson.

As they walked out of the classroom and down the corridor, James hurried up to them and both girls stopped. Lily didn't look too happy, but Lizzie was trying to stifle more laughter which only resulted in getting hit with Lily's bag. ''What's up James?'' Lizzie asked him knowing full well what he was going to say. This time however, instead of being pissed off at him like Lily usually was when he asked the 'famous question', Lizzie was quite looking forward to the shouting that her best friend would explode with any moment now.

''Well Lizzie Bee, I wanted to ask Lily Flower if she would possibly mind going out with me.'' He said smiling at Lily even though she looked like she was going to hit him in a minute. James knew he was in dangerous territory at the moment and knew Lily could snap at any moment but he stood his ground.

Lily was fuming. After all the times she had said no to him, he still had the nerve to ask her out. ''James Potter you are such an arrogant toe-rag. How many times do I have to tell you? You are such an idiot sometimes. I will never ever go out with you. Ever...''

Lizzie stood there awkwardly as Lily shouted at James. She felt sorry for him, something she wouldn't have done at the start of the year but since she had found out what he had done to help Remus, Lizzie had come to like James more. He was still arrogant and big-headed but she was starting to see past that and see the_ real_ James Potter.

''I'm just going to errmm go, see you later James, Lily. Don't kill him okay.'' She said trying to make herself heard over her best friend's ranting. Lizzie hurried off down the corridor, still being able to hear Lily shouting at Prongs. She didn't know why her friend didn't just admit she had feelings for him, because it was obvious that she had, even if she didn't know it yet herself.

Lizzie thought she'd go and see Severus. The two hadn't spoken much lately and Lizzie thought it would be best to try and make their relationship better. It was worth a try although somewhere deep inside of her knew that nothing would work. The two had drifted and it seemed there was no possible way of getting back like they were. Lizzie wondered if Sirius was right. He had said it would never work. He had said that Severus didn't love her...he couldn't be right, he just couldn't. Severus wouldn't have told her he loved her that many times for him to be lying but then...oh it was so confusing sometimes!

Making her way to where she knew he would be, Lizzie didn't take any notice to her surroundings. She was too busy thinking about the whole situation and truth be told it scared her that she didn't know what to think. Finally she arrived at the Transfiguration Courtyard and saw Severus talking to some of his friends. Lizzie scowled at the group of Slytherins. She really didn't like them and wished he'd stop hanging out with them. Going towards the group she spotted Regulas looking at her and gave him a small smile. He gave her a nervous smile back before turning to Snape and saying something to him. Severus turned around and smiled as he saw Lizzie. Going up to her he gave her a small peck on the lips.

''Hey Lele, you okay?'' He asked softly. He could see by the look on her face that something wasn't quite right.

''Yeah I'm fine, just want to talk to you a...about something'' she said taking his hand and leading him away from the Slytherins to a bench on the other side of the courtyard. She sat down trying to think of what she was going to say to him. ''There has been quite a few times over the past week or so where...I've seen you looking at Lily in a...particular way and I was wondering if you...like her. I mean _like_ like her?'' She asked being careful on how she put what she was saying. Lizzie saw his facial expression become...well she didn't know what it looked like.

''I...I...no I don't. Wh...why would I? It's only you in the picture Liz.'' He said stammering a little and not looking directly in her eyes. How could she know? Severus had in fact been feeling for Lily for a while now. He knew it was stupid seeing as he had Lizzie but...all his attention seemed to be going off her and onto Lily. Not that he would tell her that. There were a lot of things he hadn't told her and which he was not willing to bring up. ''Why do you say that?'' he asked knowing he had to say something quickly.

Lizzie heard him hesitate. She saw him not look at her and she knew he was lying. She could tell when most people were lying and this was scarily obvious. He liked Lily more. Her best friend. _Their _best friend. She should have known really. Lily and Severus had been friend longer than Lizzie had been friends with either of them. Yet...she didn't seem to mind. There were no bad feelings towards the Slytherin who sat next to her. Not on this subject anyway. ''Oh it was just something Sirius said that's all...''

All of a sudden she found Severus' dark black cold eyes glare into her. She was taken aback by this sudden change in emotion and instantly regretted mentioning Sirius at all.

''And why might I ask would you listen to Black...no don't tell me you like him don't you.'' Severus hissed. ''It's always Black this and Black that. I thought you hated him, that's what you always told me.'' He said taking his hand out of hers. Why did she always have to mention him? It couldn't possibly be that she was starting to become friendly with him, not after what he had done.

''Severus it's not like that. Really it isn't. I just...I've gotten to talk to him a bit more and that's all. It's nothing like what you think. I promise...'' Lizzie was stuck for words. He truly thought she liked Sirius? That was terrible! Just because she was talking to him more didn't mean she liked him. ''It's just he's helped Remus out quite a bit lately and I'm thankful about that...'' She dropped his gaze and looked down at her lap.

''What's he been helping him with? Is it something to do with him disappearing every now and then? Because I have noticed Lizzie, I've noticed how he's not in lessons sometimes-''

''-It's none of your business on what my brother does, just leave him out of this and Sirius too because he has nothing to do with this either. This is about you and me not them okay!'' Lizzie interjected him before he said anything else. She didn't want him knowing about Remus. To be honest she didn't want him anywhere near her brother.

Severus was still glaring at her. She was hiding something and he wanted to know what it was. It was about her brother and he wanted to find out what all the secrecy was about. ''We don't keep secrets from each other, well me and Lily don't anyway...''

''Well of course you and Lily don't because you and Lily are best friends aren't you. I just fit in at the side don't I? I'm just someone who you want to so you and take your mind of Lily. And why we're on the subject of secrets I want to know what you and your little Slytherin friends talk about, because I do have a right to know seeing as you see them more than you see me.'' Lizzie said her anger boiling up inside of her slightly. Sometimes she hated having a worse temper than her brother. Why couldn't she be like him and work things out calmly, but then this subject had been bugging her for a while now.

Severus sighed and looked over at his group of friends. They seemed to all be watching them. ''You don't need to know yet. They haven't decided if – ''

''-What haven't they decided? What do you mean I don't need to know y...'' Her eyes widened in shock. ''Please tell me you're not trying to do what I think you are.'' She said looking at him, her voice and eyes almost pleading him to say no, because in that instant she had realised why he had been trying to do. His facial expression didn't falter and Lizzie sprang up from the bench as though it was red hot. ''Yo...you were trying to get me to j...join your little group?'' Again Severus' facial features stayed the same and shock turned to anger. ''Do you actually love me or were you just trying to get close enough to me?'' She asked feeling many pairs of eyes on her now.

''Of course I love you Lizzie. How could I not love you? You're amazing and beautiful and brilliant...'' He tried to reach out for her hand but he saw her take a step backwards, he stopped up so he was looking at her straight into her midnight blue eyes. ''Lizzie please I never meant to hurt you, I just-''

''-Do you ever think what these groups are going to become in four, five years time? They're all going to become Death Eaters. I don't know what you see in the Dark Arts. I know you say it's fascinating but this sort of stuff can kill people and is that what you want to become? A heartless killer? A coward who follows whoever is winning? Because if you follow them that's exactly what you are. A coward!'' She could feel angry tears in her eyes and she looked into the dark black ones in front of her. They seemed to become stone cold in a matter of seconds.

''Don't you dare call me a coward. You're more of the coward, to scared to tell your idiotic brother how you feel about him.'' He could see the tears in her eyes and felt a part of him break deep down yet on the surface he knew he was saying the right things. At the last bit he saw her eyes widen in shock. ''Yes that's right I heard everything that night when you and Black had that argument. Sometimes I think he was right you know. You are selfish.''

Lizzie was trying her hardest not to let the tears spill. How had he heard? How was that possible? He had said he hadn't. He had _promised _her he had only been there for the last bit of the argument and now here he was saying he had heard pretty much all of it. Calming herself down she took a deep breath in. ''I hope you enjoy your road to being evil...Snivillus.'' Then she walked away as quickly as she could, not looking back at the crowd that had formed to watch them. It wasn't until she made a quick detour to the girls bathroom did she slide down the wall and cry her eyes out.

Now Lizzie wasn't one to cry often. She usually kept in all her emotions and let them all crush each other inside her. When she did start to cry however, it took a lot to make her stop. The only person who could make her feel marginally better was Remus, but Lizzie didn't know where her brother was and so she just let the tears come.

Xoxox

Remus knew there was something wrong. He could feel Moony become restless and wondered what it was to make the wolf inside of him like this. He was happy he had a nickname in a sense as he could call the wolf Moony and the other Marauders plus his sister knew he was talking about the wolf. His suspicion for something being wrong carried into third lesson when he realised Lizzie wasn't in the room. He asked several people but no one seemed to know where she was. Finally however, he heard someone say that she had been crying in the girl's bathroom since break and wouldn't come out.

Moony was seriously worried by the time fourth lesson was in full swing. He had half a mind to say he felt ill and go to look for her but a part of him wouldn't let himself. She would come to him if she needed him. She always did. All through Defence Against the Dark Arts, Remus kept hoping Lizzie was alright and as soon as the bell went he rushed off to try and find her. However, the castle was a rather large place and she could be anywhere. It was luck though when Beth came up to him and told him that she was in the common room. So Remus hurried off to Gryffindor Tower, told the Fat Lady the password and stepped through the portrait hole.

Inside he immediately saw his sister on the sofa staring into space. Her eyes seemed extremely red which indicated that she had been crying a lot. He dumped his bag on an armchair and went to sit next to her. He could tell she was having trouble trying not to cry again and so Remus pulled his sister into a hug. He heard her instantly start crying again and so he comforted her, rubbing circles on her back to calm her down.

''It's okay Lele I'm here. Just let everything out sis. Shhhh it's okay...''

Moony was not happy. Someone had made his sister upset. That someone would pay dearly...

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><p><strong>AN: I LOVE MOONY. Just to say Severus didn't really mean that stuff to her I don't think, it was just a heat of the moment type of thing. Still it was quite mean...**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: First of all I'm going to apologise for how late this is. These last couple of weeks have been terrible for me and I've tried my hardest to reply as quickly as I could. I'm really really sorry and hopefully I'll be more on track from now on. I don't have much to say apart from this chapter is the longest so far x] It's quite cute if I must say so myself. The end deffinatly is. Enjoy xxx**

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><p>Give him a chance.<p>

That was what James had asked her to do the Saturday before Sirius' birthday. To be truthful, Lizzie had already been thinking about giving Sirius a chance at being friends but she hadn't told James that. He seemed to be trying to be the 'amazing' best friend and Lizzie wasn't going to take that away from him. She had promised him that she would give Sirius a chance and when he had asked her if she would help with Sirius' birthday prank tomorrow she said she only would if Gryffindor won at Quidditch later that day. James was determined to make that happen and win they did.

The final score was 280-40 to Gryffindor and whilst all the Gryffindors were partying that night, James, Remus, Peter and Lizzie were busy sorting out the prank for Sirius' birthday the next day. Lizzie had had to think of a quick present for Sirius seeing as she didn't usually get him anything and had asked James on his latest secret trip to Hogsmeade to get him something from her. James had got her the ideal gift for him and that night Lizzie went to bed, happy with what they had been planning. She could still hear the party in full swing down below and was sure McGonagall would soon come and tell them all to shut up. With all the noise however, she fell asleep straight away.

_Walking along the quiet, dark corridor, Lizzie couldn't see more than 10 meters in front of her. Her heart was beating fast and her breathing was unbalanced. The moonlight shone from outside through the slits in the windows, causing shafts of light to cover the floor. She was sure something was following her. She could feel their eyes burning into her, daring her to turn around. But she wouldn't let it win this time. She had so many other times, but not this time. She was stronger than it, so much stronger. _

_The full moon seemed to glare at her, warning her that it wasn't safe. Well she knew it wasn't safe. She knew what was about because she had been in this nightmare so many times before. She knew what was coming...any second now...something that scared the hell out of her. Something that she knew shouldn't scare her. Something that didn't mean to scare her..._

_A low growl came from behind her and Lizzie stopped. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Trying to control her breathing she tried her hardest not to turn around. She can't...it'll only end up like it always did...but she can't help herself and she turns around slowly until she's facing a pair of amber eyes. It's the only thing she can see in the darkness. Not even the light from the moon is showing who those eyes belong to, but she knows. She always knows who's they are. It's obvious really. There's only one person who scares her that has amber eyes. There's only one being that does..._

_Moony._

_She knows what Moony can do. She knows what Moony is capable of and that frightens her so much. It's not that fact that he could harm her; it's the fact that he can do so much damage to himself. If he bit a person he could be sent to Azkaban or worse be executed! She can't bear the thought of him going through that but sometimes it's so hard to stop him. Moony is too strong for her to hold back, too powerful...she remembers when they were about eight and Moony had been locked in the basement for his transformation. She had sat against the door and talked to him all night just to keep him from hurting himself. Her parents hadn't been happy about this telling her that if she wasn't careful he could have ripped her to shreds if the door hadn't been properly secure. Well he could certainly do that now. There was no stopping him. There was no way of calming him down because as he got older Moony lost the connection he had had with his sister. There were no barriers to protect her from him now and as he moved towards her, Lizzie was frozen in fear._

'_He won't hurt me. He won't hurt me. He can't touch me...' She kept saying to herself. Moony was her brother. He wouldn't hurt her. Surely he could remember her; surely he could stop before he attacked. But then as he came into the light Moony disappeared and in his place stood Sam Riley. A cold shiver went down her spine as she looked into the blue eyes that she hated with a passion. She was scared of him, there was no denying it. After what he had done...after everything he had confessed of doing...she never wanted him to touch her again. He had caused her so much pain last year and hated him for it. _

_He started to walk towards her, an evil glint in his eyes. His chocolate brown hair was as still as a statue. His long pale fingers reached out to touch her but she backed away. There was no way she was going to let him touch her. If he did then she would never get out of his grasp..._

_She blinked and in front of her stood her mother. She couldn't exactly remember why she was scared of her, but she knew there was a reason in there somewhere. There had to be otherwise she wouldn't be here..._

_Then it was Severus. He had his wand pointed at her and a look of absolute loathing on his face. He was a Death Eater and she knew it. He had gone down that path of evil like she had told him too. She knew she shouldn't be scared of him. After all he couldn't do anything to her. No one would let him. But Lizzie knew that in this nightmare they were all dead. Every single one of them was dead and Snape had killed them all. Lily, Remus, James, Beth, Zoe, Sirius...she was the last one left and he was about to finish her off...'Avada Kadavra!'_

Lizzie sat blot up right, shaking slightly and feel sweat run down her face. Her breathing was heavy and she was sure she had screamed a moment before. No one had come to the bed though so she had probably just imagined it. She hated that nightmare. It was worse than the argument she had had with Sirius. It was worse than anything she had ever experienced before. It had stopped some time ago, just before summer after the Sam Riley incident, but now after everything that had happened with Snape it had started again.

Waiting for herself to calm down, she opened her curtains and got out of bed. It was early in the morning around half six but she knew that Remus, James and Peter would already be up sorting out the last things for Sirius' birthday. So deciding to hopefully join them, Lizzie got dressed in a muggle pair of jeans and a blue top before brushing her long brown hair and heading down to the common room where she knew the others would be.

The last remains of the party last night had been cleaned up and now the common room was spotless and had no evidence that a party had gone on last night. She spotted Remus, James and Peter put up last minute party decorations and watched them for a while as she sat down on a chair near the entrance to the girl's dormitories. After they had finished they spotted her and grinned simultaneously.

''You sorted the whole prank out?'' Lizzie asked.

''Yep'' Peter said happily.

''And we're all done here as well. Now it's just time to wake Padfoot up. Can't believe he's still asleep on his birthday.'' James said as though the thought was disgraceful.

''But...Prongs, it's not even seven yet.'' Lizzie said wondering how it was considered 'late'.

James' face lit up at the use of his nickname seeing as Lizzie hardly used them. ''Yeah but last year Sirius was up at about six''

''And the year before that it was around half five I think'' Remus added looking annoyed as he recalled the memory.

''So in reality this is rather late for him.'' Peter finished.

''Come up with us to wake him up will you?'' James asked not waiting for an answer before grabbing her wrist and pulling Lizzie up to the stairs to the boy's dormitory. He opened the door to reveal the messy room. It hadn't seemed to have been cleared up from the last time Lizzie had come in here. She saw Sirius asleep on his bed, snoring and tangled up in his sheets. His normally handsome hair was now everywhere and looked a right mess. _Did you just say his hair was handsome? No of course I didn't. _

''Oi you lazy git wake up.'' James called shoving Sirius on his bed but the only response was an annoyed groan and a sleepy 'Sod off' as Sirius rolled over and started to snore again. James rolled his eyes and turned to Moony, Wormtail and Lizzie. ''A little help please.'' He asked.

Lizzie got out her wand grinning at the three boys. ''Aguamenti'' She said and a stream of water erupted from the tip of her wand and it sprayed all over Sirius who sat up with a jolt. His eyed narrowed at his unwanted guests who were all laughing their heads off. ''Happy Birthday Sirius.'' They chorused and the boy's face lit up.

''Thanks you four.'' Sirius said grabbing his wand and drying himself off before being loaded with presents from the three boys. Lizzie's present for him was still in her dorm but she would give it to him at breakfast. Sirius started to rip the wrapping paper of the first present; Peter's. It was a box of Zonko products and several packets of Every Flavour Beans. Next was Remus' who had given him several huge bar's of Honeydukes chocolate and a massive box of Wet-Start No Heat fireworks. James' present was last and by the looks of it as Sirius unwrapped it, it was impressive. There were five boxes, some big and some small and also a huge book with gold lettering. _1001 Quidditch and Broomstick Tips, Pick-up Lines and Steps to Show Off With. _

Sirius seemed to grin at James who was positively beaming that his best mate loved his present. ''You can now do your two favourite things at the same time. Talk about Quidditch _and _flirt.'' James said laughing. Lizzie just shook her head at this. Trust James to pick Sirius something like that. Now she would have to look out for his Quidditch flirts seeing as he had started to flirt a lot with her again. _Not that I mind that much. _She thought to herself. _Sam used to think of ridiculous Quidditch pick-up lines...no Lizzie don't think of him...it was only a nightmare..._

''Lizzie Bee you seem deep in thought. Is everything okay?'' Sirius asked a small frown appearing on his face. He had seen it when he had been woken up; she had looked slightly distracted maybe even sub-consciously and could tell something was bothering her.

Coming out of her trail of thought she looked over at Sirius who was still sat in bed and gave him a smile that she hoped wasn't too strained. She didn't want to ruin his birthday with her stupid nightmare so she would just have to try and pretend that everything was okay. ''Yeah I'm fine Sirius, why wouldn't I be?'' She asked him placing herself on the edge of his bed which was covered in wrapping paper and presents.

''Good, I'm glad. Wouldn't want you to be sad on my birthday would I.'' He said giving her a wide grin and a wink. He was positively sure something was wrong, but if she didn't want to talk about it she didn't have to. ''Right I think it's time I got up now. I'm starving. '' He said pushing all of the wrapping paper off his bed.

Lizzie jumped up from the bed briefly looking over at James who nodded at her slightly. ''I'll see you at breakfast then.'' Seeing Sirius' confused face she added ''I just need to sort some stuff out.'' She said smiling at him before exciting the room. She did indeed need to sort some things out and headed down the stairs into the common room where the decorations were all up and out of the portrait hole into the corridor. From there she made her way down to the marble staircase. The first part of Sirius' birthday would start right here.

There was a broom cupboard near the stairs and in there was several mats that James had put in there yesterday. Taking them out, she waited until she could hear the Marauders coming. As soon as she heard James' rather too loud voice (it was her cue to do her part although Lizzie was sure he was talking far too loud) and she whispered a spell to make the stairs in the staircase turn into a massive slide. She grinned to herself and waited for the boys to arrive. As soon as they walked round the corner she heard Sirius go 'wow'. She smiled at him and he grinned at her.

''That is amazing.'' He said and when he saw the mats he face lightened up even more, if that was possible. There was a crowd coming behind them wondering what had happened. ''Lizzie slide down with me. Pleaseeeeee?'' Sirius pleaded putting on his puppy dog eyes. He saw her bite her lip as trying not to laugh at her. She nodded and he grabbed a mat and sat on it. He felt her sit behind him and put her arms around his waist. ''Moony push us down will you.'' Sirius called and before he knew it, they were sliding down the staircase. It was fun to say the least and before he knew it, it was over. There was a moment when both were still, Lizzie's arms still around his waist. It felt nice to have her _this_ close to him...not that he would say that for fear of being shouted at. Her temper was so short at the moment and he perfectly understood why.

Then all of a sudden he felt her arms disappeared from around his middle and he frowned slightly. Turning around he saw Lizzie give him a small smile. He smiled back at her, stood up and helped her to her feet. Just then James, Remus and Peter slide down the stairs and landed in a heap at the bottom. Sirius chuckled at this and made his way with his friends to the Great Hall. The Great Hall was also decorated with a massive Happy Birthday banner hovering in the air. There was a big pile of presents in the middle of the table where the Marauders usually sat. Sitting down Sirius started to make his way through the presents whilst eating as much as he could.

All of a sudden there was a yell from the Slytherin table. Then another and another. Looking up Sirius saw a very amusing sight in front of him. The Slytherins' hair had changed colour. They were all now very bright and hilarious and in some cases some of them didn't even have any hair anymore. He saw that Snape's hair was neon pink and knew that was probably Moony's doing. After his lycanthrope friend had found out what had upset his sister so much he had made it his mission to make Snivillus' life as much like hell as he possibly could.

Xoxox

After the amusing breakfast prank, there were several more things to amuse Sirius with throughout the day. That is until around three in the afternoon when all pranking had stopped completely. In that time anyone going into the Entrance Hall via the slide (which appeared randomly every so often) would have their feet get stuck to the ground for a moment or two whilst they were covered in multi-coloured paint. With this in mind, many of the Gryffindor's had several paint fights before they were all told off by McGonagall. After that in the courtyard several episodes of black smoke seemed to erupt from nowhere and send the students and teachers into a coughing frenzy. It had been a rather exciting day.

However there was something off. Sirius knew it but he couldn't think of what it was. Apart from the pranks all stopping he couldn't think of what was bothering him apart from...Lizzie. He knew she was trying her hardest to be happy seeing as she didn't want to be a bother on his birthday, but he could tell something was really eating away at her. He wanted to know what it was and so deciding to act instead of wait he made his way over to a corner of the common room where Lizzie was sitting, reading as usual.

Clearing his throat to get her attention he gave her a charming smile that she only half-heartedly returned. ''You okay?'' He asked. She answered with a nod and returned back to her book. ''No you're not. What's wrong? I don't like seeing you sad Lizzie Bee.'' He said sitting on the arm of the chair.

''Nothing's wrong Sirius. I'm fine.'' She said simply. In truth no she wasn't fine at all but she didn't want to say anything to him. All day the nightmare that she had had kept playing on her mind which frustrated her plus there were the odd moments when Sirius would remind her of something Sam had done. She didn't know why her ex-boyfriend had suddenly come into her mind so much but she didn't like that he had. Lily had been bothering her too. She hadn't told her best friend about what Snape had said to her so that she could at least spare their friendship. After all they had been friends longer than Lizzie had been friends with either Lily or Snape.

''Elizabeth Lupin there is something up, even James has noticed and we want to know what's the matter. If you get it over with and tell me then I won't keep asking you will I.'' He said hoping this would make her give in. He heard her sigh and put down her book.

''Fine I'll tell you...just not in here. There are too many people.'' She said giving in. Lizzie wasn't really up to arguing with him at the moment and anyway it was his birthday and she didn't think it fair if she had a go at him for being worried.

''Okay, we'll go for a walk then, come and follow me.'' He said getting up from the arm of the chair he made his way to the portrait hole looking behind him to make sure Lizzie was following him. They both stepped out into the corridor and started to walk in silence in a random direction. He made sure she was following him and led her to someplace where no one would think of looking for them. Being a Marauder, Sirius knew all the deserted spaces that could be used as a private talking time...or a snogging time, however you looked at it. ''Okay so what's the matter then?'' he asked seating himself on a window ledge of a corridor. He knew they wouldn't be disturbed. He gestured for Lizzie to join him.

Sighing, she placed herself next to Sirius and told him everything. She told him about the nightmare she had had and how she had had it many times before but it kept getting worse each time. She told him how the whole ordeal with Snape was making her feel inside; crushed and angry and also everything he had said to her. She told him how she really wanted to stop Lily being friends with him and that how could she even think of something like that as she was Lily's best friend. She told him how Sam Riley had kept popping up in her mind and how much she had hated him. Even though he asked, she didn't tell him what he had done. After what seemed like hours she finally stopped and looked down at the stone floor.

''You know what?'' Sirius asked after a moment of silence. ''I think you're incredibly brave. Of course you want to stop lily being friends with him. You don't want her to get hurt. This nightmare is just your emotions letting themselves out. They need to be let out Lizzie. You can't always keep them locked away you know. That's my job.'' He said smiling at her even though she still didn't look at him. ''What Snivillus did was unforgivable and of course it's going to hurt. You just have to find a way to stop thinking about it. You have to move on...properly, because even though you say you have, you obviously haven't. He obviously meant something to you, at least a tiny bit otherwise you'd be rid of any thought of him by now. As for Riley, well don't keep thinking of the past. That's gone now and you're way above him. You don't need to worry about him anymore, trust me. Although if I ever find out that he hurt you I will kill him okay? If you ever need someone to talk to, or someone to comfort you just come to me. I know you'd probably go out with Peter before you came to me for help, but just consider it...please? I hate seeing you upset and so the last few weeks have been torture for me. I...care about you...a lot and I just want to make sure you're okay...'' He said before trailing off.

Lizzie looked up into Sirius' natural grey eyes and for the first time saw them for what they really were. Under the cocky arrogant person was someone who cared about everyone he was close to. Under the mask was someone who would always be there to protect the people he needed too. This was a different light of Sirius' she had never seen and she cursed herself for not giving him a chance earlier and seeing this Sirius. There was something different about how she felt towards him now after his little speech but she couldn't exactly understand what it was.

''Thank you.'' She said smiling at him before getting up and giving him a hug. She could feel he was surprised by the hug but soon relaxed and hugged her back. ''You know you really are quite good at advise. Maybe I will come to you more often.'' She said smiling at him and she broke away.

Sirius mock bowed at her. ''I know. I'm an inspiration for all.'' He said. The hug had surprised him but it had felt nice. Very nice. ''Come on let's go back. I have a feeling something's going to happen.'' He said.

Little did he know that whilst they had gone for their walk, the others had prepared his surprise party a few hours early. So as they walked back along the corridors and through the portrait hole there was a massive explosion of ''SURPRISE'' as all the Gryffindors and quite a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs shouted Happy birthday at him. Sirius was in his element and was enjoying the attention.

After a while Lizzie remembered she still hadn't given Sirius his birthday present and so rushing up to the girl's dormitory, grabbing it and rushing back down again she tried to locate the Marauder. It didn't take her too long to find him, in the middle of several girls and pushed her way through to him. ''I forgot to give you this.'' She said as she saw his gentle eyes fall on her and light up in delight. Lizzie felt a fluttering in her heart as he looked at her in such a way that it made her feel wonderful about herself.

''You...you got me a present? Wow I...I wasn't expecting that. Thank you so much.'' He said taking it out of her hands and unwrapping it. Inside was a book, smaller in size to the one that James had got him. _The 50 Most Amazing Pranks to Play on Absolutely Anyone. _Feeling amazed that Lizzie had actually got him something like this, he opened the first page to see a message on the inside page.

_Sirius, _

_I hope you have a lovely birthday and that our pranking has made it a very memorable day for you. This is to help you just in case you're ever stuck with ideas._

_Lizzie x_

_P.S If you use any on me then I will hex you to oblivion. _

He smiled at the end part and put the book down on a nearby table before pulling her into a hug. ''Thank you. It's amazing, it really is. Although I think my best present is that I can hug you without you yelling at me.'' He said quietly, grinning to himself.

''You're welcome Sirius.'' Lizzie said hugging him back. It felt right to hug him and she smiled a little. The same fluttering in the stomach had appeared again and as she let go and looked into his grey eyes she realised what the feeling was. She was falling for Sirius Black and it wasn't such a bad feeling after all.

Xoxox

It was around two in the morning when Sirius went to bed. He had tried to get himself quite drunk but still seemed quite sober for some reason. Getting himself changed he pulled back his covers to find a single piece of paper on it. On closer inspection it was a picture. A picture of him, Prongs, Moony and Wormtail all in animal form. The drawing had been charmed to make the animals move like they would do in photos. Turning the paper around he saw a note on the back of it.

_Sirius,_

_This was originally going to be your present from me but I had doubted that it wasn't good enough. Okay Moony did help me with part of it but still I'm not the world's greatest drawer. I just wanted to thank you again for earlier, your kind words really made me think about who's worth my time and who isn't. I really hope you have had a good birthday because we did work very hard on making it as amazing as we good. And by we, I mean me, James, Remus and Peter. _

_I thought I would give this to you now because of what you said earlier. You said I wasn't allowed to keep many of my emotions cooped up because that was your job. Well I'm just going to say whenever you need to speak to someone I'm always around. I just wanted you to know that okay. Just in case. _

_Lizzie x_

Sirius found himself smiling from ear to ear. He placed the picture on his bedside table and closed his curtains. Falling asleep almost instantly, his last thought was how much he loved her.

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><p><strong>See what did I tell you? Cute! The next one will be up soon. Promise. <strong>


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hello :D Here's a new chapter for you all. I only got three reviews last chapter :( Oh well they made me happy anways :D Hope you like this one xD **

**RIP Great-Grandad. This one if for you :) xx**

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><p>Christmas was approaching quickly and there was soon the happy festive cheer erupting all over the castle. Decorations were beginning to pop up everywhere and a week before term was due to end, the twelve giant Christmas trees that decorated the Great Hall were put up by Hagrid. It was a shame that some of the teachers weren't too into the Christmas spirit as some had set them a lot of homework to do over the holidays, something most of the class moaned about. How were you meant to enjoy a break if you had to do homework as well?<p>

Professor McGonagall had come around with a list of whoever was starting at Hogwarts over the holidays. Sirius, James, Peter, Lily, Beth and Zoe were and after many owls of persuasion to their parents (their mum mainly), Lizzie and Remus were allowed to stay as well. The only reason she had wanted them back (after Lizzie had pointed out that the full moon was two days after the holiday had started and so there was no point in them going back for that) was that as their dad was out of the country with his job for most of Christmas, their mum didn't want to be alone. But after Lizzie had told Remus that dad would come home around Christmas Eve to Boxing Day there was no point in going home.

Remus knew his sister would try and stay at Hogwarts as much as she could and so he gave in to her once again. He too didn't mind staying at the school; at least he would be with his friends. So as term ended the eight Gryffindors could be in seen in the common room playing a massive game of Exploding Snap together. It seemed that with Christmas just around the corner, everyone was being nice to everyone else. Lily had not once shouted at James, but then that might have been for the fact that James hadn't even tried to ask her out yet. Maybe he was taking the advice that he had been given a long time ago; leave her alone, deflate your bloody big head and grow up. Yet it could just be a one off seeing at it was Christmas.

Lily had noticed something different about Lizzie but she didn't know what it was. She was still slightly downcast from what happened with Severus, but there would be times when she was seem to brighten up a lot. After a while Lily noticed that these times were normally when she was around Sirius and so Lily came up with the idea that her best friend was starting to fall for him. Which was exactly right. It seemed that she wasn't the only person who had noticed the sudden change in their friend either.

Having a chat in the dorm one evening were Lily, Beth, Zoe, Sophia and Mary. Lizzie was downstairs with the boys as she hadn't really seen them all day. They had just finished a topic on who was the cutest boy in Hogwarts with all of them apart from Lily saying Sirius, there was a silence before Beth spoke.

''I think Lizzie has a crush on someone you know.'' She said popping a piece of chocolate into her mouth and brushing her strawberry blonde hair out of her face.

All of a sudden it seemed the other girls where all ears and they wanted to eagerly know any gossip.

''Me too. She keeps going off in a daydream which she only does if she's thinking of some guy.'' Zoe said grinning. The last time she had remembered her friend going off into a daydream was with Sam Riley, both before and when she was going out with him. She was happy that Lizzie had hopefully, finally found someone who wasn't a complete and utter idiot to her; she seemed to have had far too many in her life so far.

There was more silence as the girls tried to think who it might be. Lily already had her suspicions and was trying to think of a way to make her best friend voice them without her knowing that she was onto her. ''I think its Sirius.'' She said watching as the other four girls' eyes opened wide.

''I thought she hated him?'' Mary asked confused.

''She did hate him, but lately she's gotten friendly with all four of the boys. I really have no idea why though. '' Sophie said.

''I think you might be right Lils. I think I've seen her blush quite a few times over the past couple of weeks if they brush by or something.'' Beth said grinning for ear to ear. She knew her best friend would always be destined to fall for Sirius. They seemed the perfect couple even with all the arguments and fights they had. If you looked under all of that however you could see that she liked him. It was the same with Lily and James. They were destined to be with one another.

''I think we should go and see if anything happens.'' Lily said grinning as well. This was really the opportune moment to see if she was right about the whole thing. Looking around the room she saw Zoe was the only one not looking happy at the thought. ''Oh stop being such an idiot Zoe. You had your chance to ask him out and you never did. Let Lizzie have the limelight for a change. Merlin, if what her past relationships are to go by, Sirius will be amazing for her. Stop thinking the world revolves around you all the time.'' She said glaring at the blonde. Lily wasn't about to let her spoil things for Lizzie. ''If you ruin this for her I will not be happy. Understood?'' She saw Zoe glare back at her but Lily ignored it. Getting up from her bed, she, Beth, Sophie and Mary left the dormitory leaving Zoe on her own.

Xoxox

Down in the common room, the four Marauders and Lizzie were all sat in the seats closest near the fire as usual. They all seemed to be laughing about something as the four girl's approached them. They settled themselves down around the others hoping to be able to join in the conversation quickly and not seem like they were up to something. On the sofa sat Lizzie and Sirius who seemed to be trying to see how close they could actually get without touching each other. Lily and Beth shared quick glances at each other, trying to keep their grins concealed. It was at the moment when Sirius brushed a strand of Lizzie hair behind her ear which made their friend blush the colour of the Hogwarts Express that the two girls could not keep their smiles hidden any longer.

''What are you two grinning at?'' Lizzie asked frowning at them. This just made Beth burst out laughing and Lily mutter 'well their goes our cover'.

''Bethany Harriet Richards, if you don't tell me what's funny right now your punishment is torture by tickling.'' Lizzie warned but this seemed to make Beth laugh harder. ''Right that's it. I did warn you.'' Lizzie said springing off the sofa and chasing after Beth who had managed to get up and run off to the opposite end of the common room. The chasing seemed to last forever but soon enough both girls got tired out and sat back down again calling it a draw. As Lizzie sat on the sofa again, Sirius put his arm around her shoulders which caused her to blush even harder than last time.

''Don't worry.'' James whispered to Lily. ''I've noticed as well.''

Xoxox

Christmas Day had arrived and most of the Gryffindors were up nice and early. After opening all their presents (which were too many to tell) they all went down to the Great Hall for a late breakfast. Snow had fallen outside over the last two weeks and this morning the grounds had been covered again which a healthy amount of snow. In the Great Hall the house tables were set out but they were less full than they usually were. There were only nineteen Gryffindors at their table and so food wasn't hard to come by. Over the last few days, Lily, Beth and James had noticed big changes in their two fellow Lions. Both Lizzie and Sirius were becoming a lot closer and seemed to sit next to each other at every meal and also were always seen in each other's company from when they both got up to when they both went to bed.

After breakfast the fifth years made one quick journey up to the common room to get all their warm winter clothes and then rushed down and outside. It was time for the Hogwarts national snowball fight. They split themselves up into teams, waiting to see if anyone else from other houses would join them. In the end there was a mix of Gryffindor's, Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's out in the grounds, ready for the cue.

Three

Two

One

Go!

Suddenly the clear air was filled with flying snow that sped off in an array of different directions. There were yells, shouts and screams as well as students running in every direction to get out of the way of the snowballs. The match lasted around forty-five minutes before people started to quit. In the end it was only Sirius, James, Remus, Lizzie, Beth, two Ravenclaw's and one Hufflepuff that were still in the game. It seemed to be one on one now and so everybody was shoving snow at everybody else. The last one standing was the winner.

Soon it was only the Gryffindor's left playing and as soon as Beth conceded defeat, Lizzie stopped in her tracks. It was three against one now seeing as she was the only girl left. ''Crap.'' She said to herself as all three boys started to advance on her. She had one snowball in her hand and had to fire it at one of the three. Seeing as James was in the middle and probably the closet to her she threw it at him and it hit him in the glasses causing them to fall off. Grinning she ducked as Remus and Sirius threw their snowballs at her. In quick succession, she made two more snowballs before throwing them at both her brother and Sirius. Both lumps of snow hit the boys in the face and after a rather dramatic fall from Sirius they agreed that she had won.

''Beat by a girl. How embarrassing.'' James concluded as they made their way back to the castle. He pushed Sirius into the snow on his way past but Sirius, who had known what he was about to do dragged James down with him. Both boys had a momentary fight in the snow whilst Lizzie and Remus rolled their eyes at each other. Getting back on their feet, the two Marauders tried their hardest to make the other two fall over but it seemed the twins were much more cleverer than both Prongs and Padfoot.

As soon as they got through the portrait hole after making a quick detour to the kitchens for some hot chocolate, the four Gryffindor's slumped down in front of the fire where Peter and Lily were having a rather dismal game of chess. This was because both players were absolutely rubbish at it. In the end it was James and Lizzie who took over and after that the game seemed to liven up. Although neither were excellent at it, they weren't terrible at it either so the balanced each other out. After about an hour, James won marginally with the help from Remus. Lizzie had gone to get a book and had returned to sit in the empty armchair that James usually vacated. He however was off to find Lily before dinner. All in all it had a rather fun day.

''What you reading?'' Remus asked his sister as he sat on the arm of the chair.

''A book.'' Lizzie said in a tone of voice that meant she did not want to be disturbed.

''Oh very funny. Anyway I forgot to ask. Did you get much from mum and dad?'' Remus saw his sister look up at him in a way that he knew read 'what is the point of asking'. He was about to open his mouth to say something when Lizzie cut across him.

''There's no point in saying it Remus. They don't treat us fairly, full stop. I'm used to it by now so you don't have to worry about it. All I care about is that they treat _you_ fairly and not like you've got a disease that they could catch or that you'll transform right in front of them and bite their heads off.'' She said returning to her book.

There was silence for a moment before Remus sighed. He knew Lizzie was right, their parents didn't treat them equally; well their mum didn't anyway. She had always favoured him ever since he had got bitten, had always given him everything he had wanted even if it had been something a little too expensive. Lizzie had been shunted to the side more than was considered favouritism and Remus hated seeing their parents treat them differently. They were twins after all so why did they have different views on what was best for one and what was best for the other? Remus would never understand the ways of his parents and he probably never wanted too.

''I know Lele. I just wish they'd stop pushing you away. I don't like it when they do that. Makes me feel like they don't care about you. '' His sister didn't say anything and Remus concluded that that was exactly what she felt as well. There was nothing he could do however. They would never listen to him not if it was concerning Lizzie anyway. _'Oh well.' He thought. 'I'll have to look after her without them. I'm sure Sirius, James, Lily and Beth will help me in being the family she needs.'_

''I'll see you at dinner Lele.'' He said giving her a one armed hug before walking off to find the other Marauders.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Here it is. The one we've all been waiting for...that was so not a HP quote :L But yeah here is the amazing chapter 20 which somehow managed to make its way to chapter 16. Anyway I hope you like it. It's my favourite so far :) Eeeeeeeeeee so excited. I won't spoil it for you though. Enjoy xxxxxxxxx**

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><p>It was about three days after Christmas. The snow was still falling rapidly and many more snowball fights had occurred. The castle became more cold and bitter, with only the common rooms and the Great Hall having any warmth in them. The Gryffindor's mainly kept to the common room; only going out to the grounds, Great Hall or kitchens. The Marauders, Lizzie, Lily, Beth and Zoe had stayed in each other's company since Christmas day. They would usually play truth or dare, chat or think up new pranks the Marauders could do when term started again. Lily seemed to least interactive out of the girls and so Lizzie made time to be with her best friend so she wouldn't get lonely.<p>

Now one afternoon the group were playing truth or dare again as it was a regular favourite of theirs. Frank (who was in 6th year), Alice (who was in 4th), and two other Gryffindor's (Oliver and Jasmine) joined them for this particular game making twelve all together. They had just sat down on the common room floor to start and James was starting. He thought for several minutes before choosing his 'victim.'

''Lily. Truth or dare?'' He asked her, grinning.

Lily thought for a moment before choosing: ''Truth.''

James' grin became wider (if that was possible) and gave her, her question. It seemed he had already figured out what he was going to ask the red-head. ''Is there anyone out of this group that you would go out with in the future?'' he asked.

Again Lily went into a moment of silent thinking. She looked around each boy, her gaze stopping on James a moment or so longer than the others. ''Maybe...'' She answered her cheeks going a light shade of scarlet.

At this James looked eager at her. ''Who?'' He asked a little too enthusiastically. He saw Lily shake her head and his expression dropped slightly. ''That wasn't in the question, sorry.'' She said not looking up at him.

Lizzie who caught Beth's eye grinned at her. They both had an assumption about who it was and they would ask their friend about it later.

Lily took another look around the group and stopped at Beth who was sat opposite her. ''Beth, truth or dare?''

Beth bit her lip before choosing dare.

Immediately Lily came up with a dare she could do. ''Go out of the common room and tell the first person you see that you love them immensely and that you want make out with them.'' She said giggling loudly. Beth scowled at her, got up and went out of the portrait hole and into the corridor.

The group only had to wait about five minutes before Beth came in giving a death glare at Lily who grinned broadly at her. ''Who was it?'' She asked. Beth just sat down in her place between Alice and Remus and crossed her arms.

''Conon Thrigsby'' She murmured. Lily, Lizzie and Zoe burst out laughing which caused Beth to mutter. ''It's not funny.''

''Wasn't that the Ravenclaw you used to like?'' Alice asked earning a nod from Beth. Alice too broke out laughing. The boys really had no idea why this was so funny and so just let the girls calm down before carrying on with the game.

About fifteen minutes later after finding out that Frank had once been dared to kiss a pig, Remus had eaten ten chocolate bars in about ten minutes, Zoe had been forced to wear a frilly pink dress at a wedding and several dares had been placed out including Sirius would have to sing a love song to Melissa Grimestone; an unappealing quite vicious Slytherin who had made Sirius end up in the hospital wing for a few days last year, Alice having to run around the common room acting like farm animals, and Zoe having to kiss Peter, it was now Lily's turn again and she chose Lizzie who picked truth.

''Okay. Do you have a crush on anyone? If so what house are they in, what year and do we know them?'' She asked trying not to laugh at the shocked expression on her best friends face.

''I hate you Lily Marie Evans.'' Lizzie said scowling. She knew she wouldn't get out of answering this question. ''Yes I do have a crush on someone, they're in Gryffindor, our year and yes you do know them.'' She said her cheeks turning bright red. She could see the satisfied look on Lily's face out of the corner of her eye. Lizzie felt a brush of skin against the hand she was leaning on and looked over to Sirius who was sat next to her. He seemed to have gone to hold her hand and then thought better of it. Lizzie wouldn't have minded if he had held her hand though...

She smiled at him, all the time thoughts going through her head. She needed to tell him how she felt and soon. Her feelings were starting to explode inside of her. And plus if he hadn't sussed that she liked him now then he never would. She had been quite obvious at times that she was sure even Peter had realised how she felt about the black haired boy.

Next Lizzie chose James. She dared him to find some mistletoe and ask McGonagall if he could have a kiss under it. Then serenade her with something that someone else would write for him and lastly to give her a late Christmas present and declare his love for her. James took up the challenge right away and asked Lily to write the poem. Little did he know that this would be a bad idea as Lily would write anything that would get James in detention.

James chose Sirius who chose truth. James thought long and hard about his question before presenting it to him. ''If you had one wish that contained the girl you love, what would it be?'' He seemed very serious when he asked this question and looked straight over at his friend.

Sirius looked down at the floor. ''I would wish she loved me back.'' He said before sighing.

Lizzie's insides seemed to twist. She felt like shouting out to him that she did love him. Because in that moment she realised that she did. Her feelings were much stronger than just liking him. They really were. Yet Lizzie kept silent. Everyone else was silent too and they all looked over at Sirius. James, Lily and Beth's attention was on Lizzie who wasn't looking at anyone. They seemed to think the same thing and they all wanted to shout out the same thing too as they realised the truth. _'But she does love you Sirius.'_

''Well I think we should rap that up for now. Me and Lily will write the poem for James whilst some of you find something he could give to McGonagall.'' Beth said breaking the silence. She glanced over at Lizzie again who seemed to be staring in space. Sirius was doing exactly the same thing. Their hands were so close together it seemed impossible that they hadn't touched yet. ''Come on Lizzie, help me and Lils.'' She said hoping she could get her friends mind off what had just been said. Beth went over to Lizzie and pulled her to her feet and dragging her over to Lily.

They worked on part of James' dare for a while, Lizzie not really participating. She was too lost in her thoughts to think of anything to put in the poem. Lily and Beth seemed to have it wrapped up though and as they showed it to her, Lizzie just had to smile. This would surely get James detention for at least a month.

A shadow fell over where she sat and Lizzie looked up to see Sirius standing behind her. ''What's up Sirius?'' Lizzie asked, turning her body round on the chair so she could talk to him easier.

''I was...wondering if you want to come for a w...walk with me'' He asked her quietly. He saw her nod and Sirius' face seemed to light up. He waited for her to tell her friends that she was going for a walk and then they headed off through the portrait hole.

For the first few minutes they walked through the corridors of Hogwarts in silence like they had done on Sirius' birthday. The aforementioned corridors seemed to be extremely cold and as they passed pane- less windows, they could see the snow coming in and creating a wet patch on the floor underneath the window. After about five minutes, Sirius couldn't put up with the silence anymore. He looked down at Lizzie's hand and finally pulling up the courage, he slipped his own hand through hers.

Her skin felt soft and slightly cold against his warm touch. Their hands seemed to fit perfectly with each other and from that moment Sirius never wanted to let go. He was quite surprised that Lizzie didn't take her hand out of his grip; she actually seemed to be clutching it tighter. Finally it was Lizzie who spoke. It seemed she had made her mind up about something.

''Come with me, I need to show you something.'' She said softly and leading Sirius down to the Entrance Hall. No one seemed to be around; everyone must have been in their designated common rooms. She stopped just inside the great big front doors before taking a quick look round to see if she could spot anyone lurking. Apparently the coast was clear as she led Sirius out of the door, down the steps and out into the grounds.

The snow was deep and yet they still trudged through it, Sirius wondering where they were going. The bottom of his trousers and his socks were getting soaked, but somehow he didn't care. All he cared about was that he was here with Lizzie and they were alone. There was no one to interrupt them when they were having private chats or anyone to keep making them join in their conversations when they didn't want to. They were alone and they were free.

Lizzie seemed to have stopped under a tree near the lake. Sirius recognised the tree as 'The Marauders tree.' It was a tall Birch Tree which overlooked the now partly frozen lake. Sirius wondered why she had stopped here.

''Close your eyes.'' Lizzie said into the silence. She saw Sirius' puzzled look and had to stop herself from smiling at how adorable he looked when he had no clue what was going on. ''Just close your eyes. You do trust me don't you?'' She asked wearily. Lizzie saw Sirius nod and she let out a sigh of relief. She saw Sirius close his eyes. Now was the time. The time to show Sirius that she did in fact love him; even if she wasn't ready to say it yet. Lizzie looked up into his peaceful face and smiled. One of her hands still in his, she stood on her toes slightly and kissed Sirius on the lips.

The kiss seemed magical. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to take off and sore up into the sky. Sirius didn't respond at first, which made her tense up a little. But once he realised what was going on he pulled Lizzie closer to him and deepened the kiss and making it much more passionate. The snow seemed to fall around them as they kissed. His lips were soft which made the kiss much more tender. Lizzie put one of her arms round his neck and started to run her hand through his hair. She had seriously never encountered anything like this before. She was totally captured in Sirius' essence and she never wanted to let go. Yes Lizzie had kissed guys before, but none of them were in the same league as this.

Finally they broke apart for air. They both had red cheeks and were slightly flustered. Sirius still seemed to be in shock that Lizzie had kissed him in the first place. He grabbed both of her hands and held them in his. This was what he had wanted, what he had waited for, for too long. However he had always been convinced the he would kiss her first instead of the other way around. Sirius gave her a loving smile and kissed her on the forehead before pulling Lizzie into a hug. He held her there, close to him and they stayed in that position for a while.

''That...that was amazing.'' He whispered his arms wrapped around her.

'You can say that again.'' He heard her say.

She pulled away from him slightly and gazing up into his grey stormy eyes. However the storm behind them seemed calm and gentle at the moment. Lizzie brushed a lock of his ebony black hair out of his face before she leaned in and kissed him again. It was soft and quick, but it still had the same affect on her as the first kiss had done. Parting once more Lizzie shivered at the iciness of the wind. She hadn't realised it had been this damn freezing outside. And plus she hadn't put on her cloak; which had been a stupid idea not to in this weather.

Sirius, who had noticed her shiver, took off his cloak and wrapped it around Lizzie, before fastening it around her neck. He stood, slightly hypnotised by her eyes for a moment before he snapped back to reality and grabbed one of her hands. ''It's probably best if we get back now. They'll be wondering where we are and knowing your friends, they will start looking for us in a moment.''

Lizzie nodded in agreement. ''And that isn't exactly a good thing seeing as we've just kissed and we're holding hands.'' She said grinning at Sirius. She saw him grin back at her and lead the way back to the castle, walking in the little trenches they had made earlier so not to get their feet even more cold and wet than they had done before.

The castle was silent as they walked the corridors, with only the paintings on the walls talking quietly to their neighbours. Everything seemed peaceful and the Christmas spirit seemed to be high. The day had been rather amazing, or so Lizzie and Sirius both thought. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that she actually liked him and never would she think that he would take her after everything she had said about him over the last few years. Everything seemed to be changing and thankfully it was changing for the better.

Suddenly stopping, Sirius turned to look at Lizzie, a confused expression on his face as though he had just realised something. ''Wait a minute. You kissed me first...'' He said

''Well done Einstein.'' Lizzie said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She however grinned at him and gave his hand a squeeze.

Sirius frowned at her comment. ''What's an Einstein?'' He asked her.

Lizzie gave him a sympathetic smile. Being a Pureblood seemed to have disadvantages of knowing about anything in the muggle world. At least her mother was a muggle and so she had some knowledge of what everything was. ''Einstein was a really clever person in the muggle world Siri.'' She said starting to walk again. She could tell that Sirius was still confused however and tried to hide her grin.

''But how does tha-''

''-Don't worry about it Sirius''

''Ok I won't.''

The couple fell back into silence as they climbed the many sets of stairs that led up to the seventh floor on which the Gryffindor common room was situated. A couple of the portraits on the walls gasped at them holding hands and Sirius gave them a glare which stated for them not to spread it around the castle. As they appeared outside the portrait hole, they both stopped again. Lizzie leaned in closer to Sirius and kissed him again. They only parted when both had to breathe for air. Sirius looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

''I just thought I'd make up for all the time we won't be able to do that in there.'' She said blushing.

''Well we can always make up for it later tonight.'' He said making her blush even more. Sirius decided she was even more cute when she blushed and so it would be his new mission to make her blush as much as he could. ''Lizzie I need to ask you something.'' He asked her. He saw her nod at him, welcoming his question. ''Will you go out with me?'' He couldn't stop himself from grinning as the words fell from his lips.

There was silence for a moment as Lizzie pretended to think of her answer. Inside her head however, it was yelling at her to say yes but she waited a little longer until she thought she was being too cruel to him. ''Yes Sirius. Yes I will.''

''Good. I was starting to get worried there.'' He said pulling her into a hug and kissing the top of her head. ''Shall we go brave our fellow Gryffindor's?'' Sirius asked, not wanting to let go of his girlfriend. _Girlfriend._ He smiled at the idea that Lizzie was now his and no one else's. Finally.

''Yeah I suppose we must.'' Lizzie said sighing. Pulling away she faced the Fat Lady and gave her the password. The portrait smiled at them both and opened up to reveal a rather noisy and busy common room. Having to sadly let go of each other's hands, the couple stepped into the common room and made their way towards their friends, and as they both made themselves busy with the preparations for James' dare, no one saw them steal glances at each other every so often. No one noticed that Lizzie was still wearing Sirius' cloak. No one realised that the two soul-mates had found each other at last. Except they had realised. Deep in their mind their conscience's seemed to sigh a breath of relief as it realised that everything would be alright from now on.

Everything was fine.

They were together.

At last.

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><p><strong>There we go. Finally together. . I'm so freaking happy :D Extra reviews maybe, seeing as I gave you two chapters? Please? :D Love you all xxxx<strong>


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sorry for the lateness, school work has had me very busy. Nothing to say for this chapter except I started to write the sequel :D I thought, seeing as they're together now it would be better and hopefully I can get a few chapters of that done before I finish this. With that in mind, this story will finish at the end of 7th year so you have lots to look forward to! I worked it out; if I do two chapters every week this will roughly take me till May/June so yeah just a little news flash for you there. Next chapter will probably be up today :D Enjoy xxx**

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><p>As New Year approached rapidly, Lizzie and Sirius had managed to keep their relationship quiet like she had wanted them too. It had been a close call sometimes though as Sirius wasn't one to keep his affection to his girlfriend to himself in public. He hadn't known why she had wanted to keep it a secret but didn't question her. There was obviously a reason and any reason was good enough for him as long as he could show his affection for her in private which was what they had been doing quite a bit up to New Years Eve. Sirius could tell all this secrecy was being hard on her though. He still had to act like he was single and so that meant flirting with every girl he saw. Lizzie had said though as long as he only flirted with them then she didn't mind as much. But he could still see her break a little every time he did use his irresistible charm on someone and so he cut down on his flirting, just to give her a break from it all. He had realised that she was a silent sufferer just as he was and knew it would take a while to get her to open up to him. Not that he minded. Sirius would wait a hundred years if that was what it took.<p>

Sirius was sitting in the common room staring into space thinking of how wonderful the last three days had been. Smiling absent- mindly to himself, he didn't see James come up and sit next to him on the sagging sofa. James looked at his best friend, a grin appearing on his face. It was so obvious that Sirius was in love but it seemed Sirius didn't know the extent of this love. All James had to do was make Sirius confess that he was going out with Lizzie. It was obvious that they were together; the amount of times they had snuck out was unbelievable but Sirius had kept it quiet from everybody which was quite an achievement on his part.

''So do you want me to cover you and Lizzie tonight then mate?'' James asked. He was talking about the New Year's party they would be having and was sure that Sirius and Lizzie would want to kiss the New Year in. He saw Sirius come out of his daydream with a jolt of surprise and look at him in shock.

''I don't know what you mean.'' He said quickly but knew instantly it was the wrong thing to say. He hadn't denied it. Shit. Well he had certainly blown their cover and after only three days. Well Lizzie would be happy with him. Not.

''Haha you didn't deny it. Don't worry though mate; I won't say anything to anyone. I'm happy for you. I told you not to give up on her didn't I.'' James said grinning happily, glad that Sirius shared his grin. ''So like I said, do you want me to cover for the two of you?'' He asked. Sirius nodded and James' mind was set on a way he could create a diversion for the couple.

He saw a rush of motion and Lizzie came to sit on Sirius' lap. The common room was basically empty apart from them three and so it matter if they showed their upmost affection for each other.

''Well done for keeping it so quiet Sirius.'' Lizzie joked grinning at James. She rested her head on Sirius' shoulder, who put an arm around her. He was about to apologise when Lizzie cut across him. ''Don't worry though, Lily and the others seemed to have figured it out. So it's really only Remus and Wormtail who don't know.'' She said.

''No Wormtail already suspected something so really it's only Moony who doesn't know.'' James corrected her. He saw a little bit of a problem in this. If Moony was the only one out of their friends who didn't know he wouldn't be happy when he found out.

Lizzie frowned. This had been the problem she had tried to avoid. It would now be extremely difficult to tell Remus about her new found relationship. Oh well, she would have to do it sometime and hopefully that time wouldn't be too far away seeing as she was finding it extremely hard to stay calm every time Sirius' flirted with someone else. But she knew it would do her no good to get jealous. After all what was the point? Sirius was hers after all. She had always seen him flirt with other girls when he had had a girlfriend before so it wasn't like it was anything new. She was brought back to her senses as she faintly heard Sirius talking to her.

''-anyway he said he would cov...Lele are you listening to me?'' Sirius asked. He had only just realised that Lizzie had gone off in a world of her own.

''What? Oh yeah...sorry zoned out for a minute there.''

''I realised. You alright?'' He asked, worry showing in his voice.

Lizzie nodded at him and gave him a small smile. ''I'm fine Sirius. Stop worrying about me.'' She said kissing him. To her right she heard James pretend to retch and say to them 'get a room, geeze, or at least warn a guy when you're about to stick your tongue's down each other's throats.' Lizzie broke off the kiss, picked up a cushion and threw it in James' direction and hit him on the head. ''We have a room, it's just you're occupying it.''

Xoxox

Night came quickly and soon the four Marauders had snuck down to the kitchens to get food for the party. James had brought up plenty of alcohol as well just like he had on Sirius' birthday. It seemed the common room was going to be quite crowded again. Although all the houses seemed to be having their own party, many would eventually turn up in the Gryffindor common room at some time this evening as they all knew by now that this was the best house to throw a party. The Marauders skills were legend and many people would go as far as they could to be a part of whatever they were planning; as long as it wasn't a joke that contained a large amount of people.

Many girls had asked Sirius if he'd like to join them for the party but he politely declined all of them. He would only be around one girl tonight and that was Lizzie. He was certain that if he spent any time with anyone else he wouldn't see her for the rest of the night. With this in mind, Sirius made a mental promise not to kiss any of the girls that would be at the party apart from Lizzie. He was sure she would crack under the strain from this and he really didn't want to do anything that would upset her further.

Soon the common room was steadily getting more and more crowded and around half seven the New Year's party had started. Music was blaring out of the WWN and the furniture had been moved to the sides of the room to create a rather mis-matched dance floor. Everyone seemed to be around the edges of the room, not wanting to be the first in the middle. Eventually however, James pulled a reluctant Lizzie into the middle of the dance floor, ignoring her small protests. It seemed she finally given up on the idea and just danced with him to keep him happy. By this time many other people had entered the dance floor, which had been James' motive from the start.

After the first song had ended, both Lizzie and James went off the dance floor. ''Do you think Lily will dance with me?'' He asked, looking over at the red head who was having a conversation with Remus.

''Not whilst she's sober but I'll see how drunk I can get her.'' Lizzie said grinning at him before walking off to the drinks table. There, she got three Butterbeers, placing a little Firewhiskey in Lily's before walking over to her brother and best friend and handing them the drinks. Lizzie wasn't one to drink at parties and to be truly honest she had never even been a tiny bit tipsy, something Sirius would probably be appalled at. Trying to stifle a grin as Lily drank her Butterbeer; Lizzie took a sip out of her own, feeling warm already as the liquid travelled down her throat. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Sirius. Smiling at him, she put her Butterbeer down on the nearest table as he asked her to dance.

Without hesitation she said yes, not bothering if the whole thing looked suspicious to Moony. He had to find out sooner or later and she hoped it was sooner but when it came to her brother, he was rubbish at finding the sign's of a relationship. She didn't even think he had noticed himself staring at Beth quite a few times already. Merlin her brother was rubbish when it came to love. Okay, Lizzie knew she wasn't much better but at least she actually had the courage to go out with someone. She knew he was worried about them finding out about his condition but she was sure someone like Beth wouldn't mind if Remus was a Werewolf. Beth was very accepting when it came to people so Lizzie thought something like Lycanthropy would affect her from like Remus. In fact Lizzie was sure Beth _did_ like her brother. They were just too shy towards each other for them to do something. That would be the second thing on her list of doing things the; getting them together; the first being to get James and Lily together. It was like a life target for her and she was determined to reach it.

After dancing through four or five songs, they walked over to the drinks table, Sirius getting himself a bottle of Firewhiskey. ''You want some Lizzie?'' he asked. He saw her shake her head and he frowned. ''Have you ever had any?'' There was a hesitant second shake of the head. ''So you're telling me you've never got smashed at a party?''

''No.'' Lizzie said biting her lip. She saw Sirius' shocked face as though it was practically unheard of. He picked up a second bottle and handed it to her. He gave her a smile, willing her to take it.

''Oh well, we'll have to start now then. Go on drink up.'' He saw the slight hint of worry on her face. ''Don't worry I'm not going to let you get too drunk if you don't want to be. Just have a little bit. Will make you feel better and hopefully put less pressure on your mind.''

Looking at the bottle for a moment or two, Lizzie decided that she didn't have anything to lose. Why was she so worried about getting a little bit drunk? Sirius wouldn't hurt her. He would never take advantage of her...okay he would but surely he would realise when it was getting too much for her and stop. But then there was a difference between a sober Sirius and a drunken Sirius. ''Okay I'll have a little bit, as long as you promise not to get too smashed. I don't want to have to look after you whilst you're unconscious.'' She said lying but giving him a smile. Undoing the top of the bottle, she put it to her lips and drank the Firewhiskey. Almost instantly she felt a burning sensation at the back of her throat making it feel dry.

''Yeah it'll be slightly uncomfortable at the start, but once you get used to it you'll be fine.'' He said grinning at her and downing the alcohol. As he took the bottle from his lips he noticed Lily walk past, her cheeks slightly flushed and her hiccupping every so often. ''What's up with Evans?'' He asked frowning.

Lizzie grinned as she watched her best friend go past. Catching James' eye on the other side of the common room she could see he was positively beaming. ''Oh, I just put some Firewhiskey into her Butterbeer. James wants to have a dance with her but the only way she would accept would be if she was drunk.'' She said looking up into her boyfriend's delighted face.

''You are amazing sometimes. You really are. Now all we need to do is to get Moony drunk and then we will be able to kiss quite freely later on. Maybe even sneak out of here and do a little celebrating for ourselves.'' He said grinning at her and putting an arm around her lower back, pulling her closer to him.

Rolling her eyes, Lizzie took another swig at the drink and swallowed it, again feeling that terrible burning in her throat. ''That will never work; Remus' senses are too high, he'd noticed if someone spiked his drink and besides all I have to do is tell Beth that he keeps looking at her and we'll be fine. If I do this right then they'll be spending the rest of the evening together. Anyway...we'll see about later. Depends if you behave or not.'' She said releasing herself from his grasp as she slowly felt his hand travel down her back. ''I will be back soon. Just going to do some match-making.'' She said kissing him a quick peck on the cheek before setting off through the crowd to find Beth.

Sirius watched her walk off, mesmerised by the curves of her body, thinking that she was absolutely perfect and that she could have no faults at all...that was until Prongs came up to him, drink in hand with Wormtail trailing behind.

James was slightly drunk but still sober enough to notice the way his friend had been acting. He knew it was time to act before Sirius did something he regretted. ''I'm going to give you some advice Pads...don't take advantage of her this early in the relationship. You've only been going out for three days after all. You'll ruin it if you jump into the deep end. She's not like the sluts that just want to have as much sex as possible with you, you know; Lizzie actually had feelings and probably has her own boundaries of how far you can go. So don't abuse them mate. If you lose her you won't ever get her back. Just keep that in mind.'' He said, his speech slurring a little. He had spotted his fiery haired beauty as he liked to call her and was sure it was soon the best time to ask her for a dance; she seemed drunk enough.

Sirius knew James was right. Lizzie would be one of those who wanted to take it slow and that was fine by him as long they got somewhere in the end. ''Yeah alright, thanks for telling me Jim. Now go ask Evans to dance before you start drooling over her.'' Sirius said and watched his best mate walk in an almost steady line towards Lily. Looking around the crowded and noisy room Sirius noticed a blonde haired girl looking over at Peter. He recognised her as Vickie Freeman, a Gryffindor a year below them. ''Hey Pete, looks like Vickie's eyeing you up. Go speak to her.'' He said pushing Peter into the direction of the girl. Grinning to himself, Sirius finished off the rest of his bottle and set it down on the table. Looking at the large countdown clock over the mantle he saw that it was nearly ten. This evening was going quickly and Sirius couldn't believe another year had nearly gone by. In just over two hours it would be 1976 and hopefully a better year than this one. Finishing his contemplations, Sirius went off to find Lizzie again.

Xoxox

The countdown was coming up with only two minutes to go. Many people were in a state that they wouldn't recall the New Year, or see it in; there were quite a few groups of unconscious and sleeping bodies around the place. After many attempts, James had finally gotten his dance with Lily who was quite drunk by now, Remus and Beth had spent the rest of the evening in each other's company thanks to Lizzie and Peter and gotten off well with Vickie. Many more Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's had clambered into the common room for the countdown saying that the Gryffindor countdowns were always more interesting, especially when it came to who would kiss who into the New Year. On asking, James had told Lizzie and Sirius that he would give them as much time as possible for them to kiss and sneak out (Lizzie had decided that Sirius had been good enough all evening for them too, although Sirius was certain she had given into his puppy dog eyes he had given her every time they had brought the subject up).

When the countdown had begun, Sirius and Lizzie had positioned themselves as close to the portrait hole as possible so they could slip out quickly hopefully without being noticed.

Five

Four

Three

Two

One

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

There were shouts, applause and several fireworks going off in quick succession. The first couple to kiss were Frank and Alice and many of the girls went 'awhh' loudly at the sight of them. Peter had kissed Vickie who had giggled and blushed a beetroot red, a rather tipsy Remus had given Beth a peck on the cheek who in return had kissed him on the lips, James who had made himself center of attention had caught Lily around the waste and had kissed her square on the lips (Lily seemed to have been drunk enough not to struggle from his grasp much to everyone's delight, especially James') and Lizzie and Sirius had shared a soft embrace and a slow meaningful kiss before they had hurried out of the common room, hand in hand.

Over all it had been a rather eventful and entertaining night. Even around three in the morning, Professor McGonagall didn't have that much of a heart to tell them to keep the noise down and had joined the slowly dying party for around ten minutes.

1976 was here at last and boy would it be a good one!

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><p><strong>I really wanted to get this one on New Years but alas I am two months slow :P :D Review please, they make me work faster :D xx<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Sorry I couldn't get this up last night; fanfiction wouldn't work. But here is the chapter, hope you like it. Just a warning- I am not to good with romancy time scene's as I get my sources from other fanfics seeing as I've always had rubbish relationships. (Their both extreme manwhores but don't say anything) One is called Batman :D Anyway enough of that. Enjoy :) xxx (Second long chapter for the win !)**

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><p>School soon started again and Hogwarts was back to its normal state. OWLS and NEWTS students were being heavily laden with homework and lectures about their upcoming exams even though the exams were still six months away. The teachers had been working them students hard (too hard for some's liking) and had announced that it would all get harder as the months went past. Even people like Lily, Remus and Lizzie were struggling with the amount of work they had been given in the first week back. You knew you were in deep trouble when they said they didn't get what they were supposed to do.<p>

Since the New Year's party, Lily had been extremely pissed off with everyone for letting her get kissed by James. Loads of people had teased her about it when she had first denied that it had happened but Lizzie, Beth, Zoe and James had soon sorted them out for her. Lily wasn't exactly on speaking terms with Lizzie at the moment however. The first day of the New Year Lily had been adamant that someone had spiked her drinks with Firewhiskey and after several incidences of Lizzie being unable to stop herself from laughing she had admitted she had done it. Lily had been furious with her and had stopped talking to her ever since. However she was starting to come round when Lizzie had explained to her whilst they were paired up in Transfiguration that she had only intended for her to dance with James and that she had no idea he was going to kiss her, which had been the truth. With that piece of information in mind, Lily had shared with Lizzie the fact that Remus was starting to get suspicious and so they should both be careful over the next few days.

Indeed after that helpful tip, Lizzie had noticed that her brother was keeping a closer eye on her. Whether he had figured she was seeing someone and that someone was Sirius or just the first one, she didn't know but what she did know what that their cover would surely be blown soon enough. Lizzie had warned Sirius about this too and so both had been extra careful around the attentive Werewolf. To keep Remus off their scent, Lizzie had started to talk about him and Beth getting together. Every time she had talked about this both participants would blush furiously which only made Lizzie press the matter more. It would be good for both of them to have each other; they were so alike it was unbelievable.

Beth had had her share of terrible boyfriends as well and so with a lot of persuasion from her friends had started to think about asking Remus out on a date. She of course had had her eye on him for a while now without anyone noticing. With Lizzie's sharp senses in the subject however she had been told to empty all of her feelings for Remus out to her three best friends. All three had told her to go after him and to not stop if he seemed to be shrinking away. What Beth didn't know was that Lizzie, Lily and Zoe had secretly sorted out for her to go on a date with Remus on Valentine's Day, which just happened to be a Hogsmeade weekend as well, but also the day before the full moon. Hopefully it would all work out but Lizzie was sure Remus would be temperamental, especially as the full moon was so close.

It was this in mind that Lizzie found out that both Lily and Beth knew about her brother's condition. She had been amazed at first that they had both kept it a secret from her for so long but was happy and relieved that they knew. It made everything a lot easier for her and helped with the fact that Beth's date was so close to that day. Neither were fazed by the fact that he turned extremely hairy once a month and knew this would help with her struggle with Remus about nobody wanting to date a Werewolf.

There was still the worry about Zoe not knowing. The blonde had been rather distant from the others since the news of Lizzie's relationship with Sirius. Lily had been making sure she didn't ruin it for Lizzie. Zoe was one of those people who were so unpredictable with their emotions. One minute she could be nice, kind and cheery the next she was haughty, rude and a complete bitch and Lily knew it had nothing to do with her time of the month. She was rather a stuck up cow Lily thought, but she would keep those views to herself. It seemed Lizzie hadn't noticed the ice between her and Zoe which Lily thought a good thing. She knew her best friend would be upset if she found out she was losing a friend (even if it was Zoe) over Sirius. Lily knew she would never be able to choose between her friends or her boyfriend and hoped that the situation would never come to that.

xoxox

One evening Lily and Remus were out patrolling the corridors on their duty. Everything seemed quiet and they both hoped it would be a peaceful night as both prefects were tired from all the homework they had been doing. They walked in silence for a while, feeling comfortable in each other's presence. They were nearing the corridor in which they would split up in. They had devised a plan where they would do half the duty together, split for a while and then join each other towards the end. That way she could catch people sneaking around the castle a lot faster.

''Do you know if Lizzie has a boyfriend?'' Remus asked out of the blue. Lily was shocked by his question but didn't show it in her expression. She didn't want to give anything away for her best friend knowing Lizzie wouldn't be happy if she found out she had told him. It was always hard for her to lie to Remus though. She didn't have a problem with anyone else apart from him. Maybe it was his Werewolf senses she thought. She kept a straight face as they walked down the corridor lined with portraits of all different sizes, holding a whole different array of people and animals.

''I don't know Remus. If she has she's keeping it extremely quiet.'' She said thinking that Lizzie really had done a good job in keeping her relationship with Sirius a secret. ''Would you care if she did?'' Lily asked hoping she didn't sound too suspicious.

Remus' tone and facial expression was hard to read and so Lily didn't know if he was telling the truth or not. ''I would care yes but only because she's my sister and I don't want her to get hurt. Blimey with the amount of rubbish relationship's she's had I just hope if she is in one that he's treating her properly. Why she would keep a relationship from me if a different matter all together. Maybe she doesn't trust me enough...''Remus trailed off not showing that he felt hurt by the fact that if his sister was hiding something from his that she felt that she couldn't tell him about it.

Lily sighed as they reached their fork in the corridor. She stopped and turned to face the taller boy. ''Look Remus, Lizzie trusts you with everything, it's just sometimes I think she feels that you look out for her so much that she can't do anything without you worrying about her.'' Lily voiced something that had been troubling her friend for a few days now. Whether Lizzie would be pleased Lily had told him was another matter.

Remus looked down at the floor for a moment or two and sighed. ''Yeah you're probably right, it's just I stop worrying about her. After everything she's been through because of me...well...let's just say I'm surprised she still talks to me sometimes...anyway we should get going. See you in a while.'' He said giving her a small smile before heading off into his usual direction.

Lily watched him go feeling sorry for him. Both twins seemed to have gone through a lot; most of what she didn't know but it was up to them to tell her anything she had to remind herself. So setting off down the opposite path to Remus, Lily hoped he would find out about Lizzie and Sirius in a better way them in a broom cupboard together...

Xoxox

It was dangerous, sneaking out on a night when Remus had his duty, but Sirius had pleaded her, using his puppy dog eyes he knew she couldn't resist. Lizzie was making her way silently down the corridor hoping not to bump into anyone. Sirius should be around here somewhere and so she kept an eye out for him. They couldn't have left together, Remus would have known something was up and would have most probably followed them. So they had decided to leave the common room quite a while after each other. Now all she had to do was to locate her boyfriend. Finally she heard a whispered 'psst' coming from the slightly opened door of a broom cupboard. Lizzie opened the door to find Sirius grinning at her.

''You could have chosen an empty classroom. Broom cupboards are so crowded and you know you have bad experiences of always falling over in them.'' Lizzie hissed at him before being pulled into the cupboard by him, the door being shut behind her. The space was tiny and full of buckets and mops that Sirius had tried to stack neatly together. It was true that he always kept falling over something in the darn cupboards but he had wanted a change from the empty classroom they had used once or twice before.

Sirius pulled her towards him his hands on her waist. Next their lips met, Sirius' tongue trying to get past the boundaries but before he could enter Lizzie broke away. ''And besides we've got to be careful just in case Remus comes along.'' She said pushing him up against the wall making their lips bond together again. Her hands slowly made their way up to around his neck, her fingers sliding through his ebony hair.

''Stop worrying so much, we'll be fine love. And plus...''He said between fleeting kisses...''I like being closer to you. Classrooms are too big for my liking.'' Finally his tongue entered her mouth, exploring it's way around. He managed to flip her around so he was pressing her against the wall and started moving down to her neck, kissing every space possible. His left hand was slowly travelling down her waist until it crossed it's boundary and got a slap from Lizzie and so he tried the other way letting it gently and slowly ride up her blouse. He could feel her body press closer to his as she tried to moved forwards. Taking a step backwards he suddenly found his foot caught in a bucket. Trying to get it out without actually moving from his position, Sirius somehow managed to fall over, causing one hell of a racket as the bucket knocked into everything whilst pulling Lizzie down with him. He looked up at her as she had fallen on him and they both burst out laughing. They were used to this happening by now and were about to resume where they were before when the door opened and candle light flooded onto the unsuspecting couple.

There stood Remus, complete and utter shock on his face.

Xoxox

Remus couldn't believe what he had just seen as he slammed the door shut again. What the hell was going on? From inside he heard Sirius (yes it was defiantly Sirius' voice unfortunately) say 'now would be the best time to learn to apperate' next he heard Lizzie answer him (why did it have to be his sister?) 'You can't apperate inside Hogwarts Sirius.' 'Yes I know but it would be nice for Dumbledore to let down the wards right this second.'

Opening the door with such force he was sure he could have ripped it off its hinges, Remus stood over the two on the ground looking murderous. A growl escaped from his chest as he looked at his best friend and sister who had thankfully got off each other. ''You have twenty seconds to tell me what the fuck you're doing.'' His voice was low and dangerous. He never normally swore but now was the perfect time to use that kind of language.

Sirius really wanted to break the ice that he 'was doing' Lizzie but didn't think the wisest thing with Moony like this. So standing up and looking his friend straight in his now amber eyes, Sirius went and told him the truth. ''Remus...I was...I'm afraid I was snogging your sister senseless.'' He heard a snort from Lizzie who was trying not to laugh. He then heard her mutter 'we weren't at senseless yet. We would have been if you hadn't have fallen over that stupid bucket.' Before he could reply however, he felt a hand clenched around his arm as he got yanked out of the cupboard by Moony nearly falling over in the process.

''Remus mate...listen...'' But Sirius knew it was no good in trying to reason with the Werewolf. He was too far raging. His amber eyes were proof of that.

Remus was seething. What the fuck was Sirius? More to the point what the fuck was his sister doing? He saw her emerge from the cupboard and standing next to Sirius and looking straight towards him. He didn't know what kind of emotion was in her eyes but it was defiantly one he hadn't seen before. ''You both had better explain yourself quickly before I dock an extreme amount of points from both of you.'' He said his hands clenched into fists.

''Rem just...just calm down okay.'' Lizzie said her voice quiet and timid.

''CALM DOWN? YOU WANT ME TO FUCKING CALM DOWN LIZZIE? WHY DON'T YOU JUST FUCKING ANSWER MY BLOODY QUESTION? WHAT YOU HELL WERE YOU DOING IN A FUCKING BROOM CUPBOARD WITH HIM? I THOUGHT YOU'D HAVE BETTER SENSE THAN TO FOLLOW HIM INTO A FUCKING CUPBOARD.'' Remus yelled pointing a finger at Sirius. He was so angry he hadn't noticed his sister shrink back from his rage.

Sirius felt Lizzie's hand cling onto his and knew she was scared by Moony at the moment. He squeezed her hand in reassurance hoping he wouldn't get her too worked up. ''Don't speak to her like that Remus. Get Moony under control for Merlin's sake.'' Sirius sounded angry but was trying to keep his temper. ''Did it ever occur to you that maybe she wanted to kiss me? Did it ever occur to you that maybe...just maybe we were in a relationship? But no of course that would never enter your small mind would it because you don't know anything about her relationships.'' Sirius growled.

''THAT'S PROBABLY BECAUSE SHE NEVER FUCKING TELLS ME ANYTHING.''

''WELL MAYBE THAT'S BECAUSE SHE'S TOO SCARED TO TELL BECAUSE SHE THINKS YOU'LL BLOODY JUDGE HER. MERLIN'S PANT'S MOONY SOMETIMES YOU CAN BE SO THICK.''

Both boys seemed to have forgotten that Lizzie was still there. She let go of Sirius' hand and walked backwards slowly until she was touching the wall. There she sank down to the floor hoping they would stop shouting at each other. Why did she have to mess everything up? Why couldn't she have just told Remus about their relationship in the first place? When she thought about it she knew it was Sirius' answer that had been right. She was scared that Remus would judge her. After all how can you go from hating someone to falling for them in a matter of four months? It was bizarre, even for her. She looked up at the boys just before she heard a loud THUD and a crack as Remus' fist connected with Sirius' nose. Springing to her feet she shoved her boyfriend away before he was able to retaliate.

''Will you two please just stop this? It's ridiculous. Why do I even bother with either of you?'' She asked, her voice rising towards the end. Glaring at her brother and Sirius who had a broken nose by the looks of it, look out her wand, muttered 'epiksy' before stalking off in anger. She didn't know where she was going and she didn't care as long as she got away from the pair of them. Okay she was happy that Sirius had defended her but call her brother thick had gone over the line. Hearing footsteps she looked up to see Lily walking towards her.

''What's up Lele?'' Lily asked noticing her friend's expression.

''I think Remus found out about me and Sirius.'' She said sighing and accepting Lily's hug. ''I'm alright Lils, I just need to leave them to calm down. Come back to the common room with me. I don't think it's wise for you to go down there.'' So the two girls headed to the common room in silence trying to hear any more shouting from the two boys. Thankfully it seemed like they had stopped now, unless one had knocked the other out which was also a strong possibility. Settling down on the sofa however, Lizzie didn't have to wait very long before Sirius came though the portrait hole not covered in blood anymore. He sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug.

''I'm sorry Lizzie I really am. I should have handled it better. Thank you for fixing my nose though.'' He said smiling. He let go of her and saw her give him a small rather fake smile. ''Moony will be here shortly he just needed a walk.'' He said answering her unasked question. ''I think it's more of the fact that just after you left he realised what he had just said to you. He's probably think up of the best apology now.'' He said trying to make her feel better. When she didn't say anything he continued. ''Don't blame yourself love. He doesn't hate you. If he should hate anyone it's me. I just think he was shocked and Moony took control. He didn't mean to shout at you.''

Lizzie just nodded finding that she couldn't say a single thing. She looked down at the fading red carpet and felt Sirius put his arms around her for a second time and kissing her on the top of the head. ''You mean so much to me. Don't you ever forget that.'' He said as he spotted Remus walk through the portrait hole. He seemed a lot calmer than before and he his blue eyes were back. ''I'll be back in a minute love, Moony wants to speak with me.'' He let go of her and silently followed Remus out of the common room again. They didn't walk far down the corridor before Remus stopped.

''Listen...Padfoot I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you...or punch you. I was just shocked that's all. I couldn't control Moony...you know how he gets. What I wanted to say was I can cope with you and Lizzie being together...just. But just bear in mind that if you ever hurt her, I will kill you. Understood?''

Sirius nodded and gave Remus a nock salute, who smiled at him. ''I won't ever hurt her Moony. You know why? Beca...because I think I'm in l...love with her.'' He said sincerely. It was true. Sirius had been thinking about it for a while now and he had come to the assumption that he was in love with her. When he'd actually tell her that to her face was a different matter but he knew he wouldn't be able to say it yet. It had been the first time he had ever held back from telling a girl that he had loved her because this was the first time he had ever truly meant it.

''Well you'd better not mess up then and go in there and show her that she means something to you even if you haven't the confidence to tell her yet.'' Remus said smiling. He saw Sirius grin and followed him back into the common room. He went straight over to his sister and sat down next to her before pulling her into a hug.

''I am really sorry sis. I didn't mean to shout at you. Forgive me?'' He asked. He felt her nod and pulled her into an even tighter hug. ''You and Sirius will do fine together. You're perfect for each other. Don't listen to anything I say.'' He said hearing a quiet 'ok' from his sister. He saw Sirius sit down on the other side of her and develop her into a hug as well so she was in the middle of a 'sandwich'. ''There will obviously be rules though.'' He said chuckling.

Lizzie struggled out of the hug and mock glared at her brother. ''Sod off Remus.'' She said not being able to hide her grin. A cushion was thrown in his direction.

Sirius then asked if they could make their relationship public and after a quick yes from Lizzie the couple had kissed again. Remus and James who had joined them had started to retch whilst Lily had told them to stop being idiots because it was cute.

''The first thing in the rulebook will be that no public affection can be made in mine, James or Peter's presence. Two more cushions were thrown in his direction. Then another three and after being bombarded by cushions, Remus knew it was time to shut up.

Xoxox

The following morning Sirius was extremely excited. He would get to tell the whole of Hogwarts that he was dating the girl of his dreams. He however would be doing it in a way that he was sure would make her embarrassed. As he bounded down to the Great Hall he went rushed down the corridor to where Lizzie was walking with her friends and slipped his hand into hers. She seemed pretty comfortable with the whole 'public' thing at the moment and he was happy about that.

It wasn't until they had reached the busy Great Hall did people start to whisper to their neighbours. Sirius ignored them and sat down in his normal place, making sure Lizzie sat next to him and started to pile his plate with food.

''I don't like all the attention.'' He heard Lizzie mutter and as he swallowed a piece of sausage he grinned at her.

''Oh this is nothing...hardly anybody knows. I can change that though.'' He said before getting up and standing on the table. He heard Lizzie hiss 'you'd better not be doing what I think you are.' Grinning down at her, he winked before putting two fingers in his mouth and whistling loud catching evryones attention. ''Everybody I would like to make an announcement.'' 'Please don't' he heard Lizzie whisper.

''I, Sirius Black am extremely head over heels for Lizzie Lupin. By that I mean...I am in love with her. Anyone who has an objection to that sees me after breakfast. I want to spend time with my girlfriend. Thank you all for listening.'' He said before bowing and sitting back down again. There was a round of applause, mainly from the Gryffindor table and Sirius grinned to himself before looking over at Lizzie. ''See it wasn't that embarrassing was it.''

Lizzie just looked at him, completely amazed why what he had just said. Had he meant it? _'Of course he meant it. He wouldn't have told the whole school if he hadn't.' 'I know but what if...' 'Just be quiet dear and just come to terms with what he's just said.'_ A smile crept onto her face. ''No not at all. I mean for me it wasn't. It might be for all those crying girls at the Hufflepuff table though.'' She said trying not to laugh as she drank from her goblet. Her eyes flickered over to the Slytherin table and over to Snape. He was giving her and Sirius a Death Glare and so she smiled kindly at him. Inside however she was worrying. He was going to do something. She was sure of it. Her gaze was back on the Hufflepuff table when her eyes, met those of a person she hadn't talked to in over eight months. Sam Riley was staring in her direction with a rather odd expression on his face. Looking over to Sirius she could see he had spotted Riley's look as well. She felt him grab her hand and give it a squeeze.

''Don't worry love, we'll get through it all together.'' He said to her softly. If she had thought keeping the relationship a secret had been difficult, nothing would prepare her for what they would both be up against soon. If that had been hard then this would be hell.

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><p><strong>Ooo dear I have a feeling shit's going to go down :P Reviews would be lovely but I'm not one of those people who say if you don't review I wont post another chapter. If you don't review I will indeed post another chapter because seeing as I do get favoruties and alerts then it's all good. See I apologise for the rubbish romance scene. But I hope Sirius amused you like he did me. :D Next chapter will be up soon. Maybe today but I'm ill so I don't know. I'm on half term so I can post alot. Yay xx<strong>


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: This chapter is short just to warn you. It's just a filler really nothing important apart from a bit of information. Will will share this secret with you though...you will find out who Sam Riley is in the next chapter. Finally managed to fit him in. Did another plan of the story so I'm hopefully back on track now :) Nothing to tell you today I don't think apart from I'm ill so this wont be my best. Probably why it's short. Enjoy xx**

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><p>Weeks went by and the end of January crept up upon them as quickly as it had started. Ever since Sirius had annonced his and Lizzie's relationship, the couple had been getting mixed reviews from everyone. Most of the Gryffindor's (including some of Sirius' ex's surprisingly) and people from other houses who like one or the other were very happy and supporting of them whereas there were many people who would shout heartless things down the corridors. Sirius had punched in total of nineteen people and had made two go to the hospital wing when the 30th of January came up. Lizzie, who had been very grateful that Sirius was there to stand up for them had told him to stop beating people up because she didn't want him to get into anymore trouble (he had acquired eight detentions already). He had thankfully stopped for her although she was sure he sent hexes at Snape every time they walked past each other in the corridors.<p>

Snape had been the first to approach them or rather Lizzie and had made sure she knew where she stood with him now and had said some rather nasty things to her. Thankfully Sirius, Remus and James had been there to sort him out. The three boys had warned him not go come anywhere near her again. However, Snape had gone up to her multiple times either to threaten her with something outlandish or apologise for what he had said previously. Lizzie had no idea what the hell was going through his head and so she ignored him thinking it was probably his 'friends' who were making him say things like that.

Riley was another story however. He stayed away from Lizzie which she was thankful for. There were some occasions however when she spotted him down a corridor or in the Great Hall just staring at her with a look she had never seen on him before. She never told Sirius about it though, not wanting to worry him. He was having a hard job keeping calm in the first place with everyone's mixed views. Why their relationship had caused so much chaos he would never understand and just wished it would all stop and that people would grow up.

The group of people who seemed to like the match more than anyone else was the teachers. They all thought that Lizzie could hopefully pull Sirius and James into shape more now that she and Sirius was a couple. Lizzie thought that they were all barking mad for this but let them believe to keep them happy. In complete honesty, it was more Sirius getting the mischievous side out of Lizzie than anything else. He had never expected her to be so cunning but sometimes the pranks she thought up were amazing. He knew that if both Lizzie and Remus ever went up again him, James and Peter then they would be in trouble. The twins seemed to have brilliant minds and would sure put them to the test if the other Marauders were annoying them and that was why Sirius knew to never piss off his girlfriend.

Except that's what it seemed he had done on Lily's birthday. He had no idea why she had been not talking to him all morning (okay he had the faintest idea) and was starting to realise how much he had started to depend on her just being there and talking to him all the time. So he thought he'd just leave her alone today and not bother her until it seemed okay to apologise to her. It hadn't been his fault though that he couldn't stop himself from giving people what they had deserved. Okay punching a third year may have been a little over the top but he hadn't meant to...it was just that he was angry with his brother as per usual. The little wart had told his parents about his relationship and he had received a rather nasty letter about it. Well at least it hadn't been a howler, that way he could keep it away from Lizzie. He didn't want her to worry about it; he didn't want her to worry about him full stop. He was perfectly fine...that's what he told everyone anyway...

Xoxox

Transfiguration was neither Lizzie's best nor worst subject. To her though, she found it one of her weakest subjects. That was why she had paired up with someone she knew would be able to help her. Kerry Davison was a good friend of hers from Ravenclaw and Lizzie thought it would be good to catch up with her for the lesson. They were meant to be turning one object into multiple objects; something she really didn't get how to do. Kerry was showing her the basic method of it and within the first ten minutes she managed to turn her one goblet into three. As they worked on the written part of their lesson, conversation started up.

''So, you and Sirius doing well?'' Kerry asked dotting an 'I' on her work.

Lizzie nodded, not looking up from what she was writing. ''Yeah we're fine. '' It was a simple answer but was what she wanted to use.

''It seems so...weird to see you two dating when you used to loathe his very existence.'' She said looking up from her parchment, grinning at Lizzie. Lizzie just rolled her eyes repeating the same thing she had done to many people.

''I did not 'loathe his very existence'. I may have said it once in that Herbology lesson last year but he's not that bad really. Bloody good kisser, I'm telling you. Once you get to know him he's...different from everyone else...'' She had started to stare into space, missing Kerry chuckle and shake her head.

''You're in love even though you're about to deny it. It was the same with Riley, but this is stronger I can tell.'' She watched Lizzie turn to her and raise an eyebrow at her, amused. ''Oh did you hear? He's on the move again. Perverted git.''

''Ah he's only perverted if he dates fourth years and under. To every student of Hogwarts who has no sense I feel sorry for you if you ever fall for him. Why'd he start again? Thought Megan and Erin were keeping an eye on him?'' Megan Kingston and Erin Halloway were two seventh year girls who Lizzie had come to know quite well. They had both had their own 'Sam Riley' incidents and had vowed to keep him away from any unsuspecting girls.

Kerry knew under all of this that Lizzie was worrying. Only five people knew about what Riley had almost done to her (herself included) and Kerry knew she was scared about him advancing on her again. She felt sorry for the poor girl but hoped Sirius would keep her safe from any harm. ''He threatened Megan I think. As soon as she lost it, Erin did too. Poor girls. Merlin, I really want to punch him sometimes.''

Lizzie smirked at this comment. ''Been there, done that. Very and I repeat _very _satisfying. Just hope I never have to tell Sirius anything. He'd lose it too I think but in a more 'I'm going to rip his brains out' kind of way. He's protective like that...'' Looking over at Kerry she saw the girl give her a satisfying smile. ''What?'' She asked but not getting an answer. Then her mind suddenly clicked and Lizzie rolled her eyes. ''Okay fine I admit it. I may love him a little bit. Okay? You satisfied now? I love Sirius Black, but I'm not ready to tell him that of course.'' She said keeping her voice low so no one overheard her. She needn't have bothered as the class was talking loudly and freely; McGonagall was in a very good mood this morning. Lizzie looked over at Sirius who she found was staring at her. She smiled at him and mouthed 'you're forgiven' in which he mouthed 'thank you' back at her before blowing her a kiss. Grinning she turned back to Kerry. ''He's so cheesy sometimes it's unbearable. '' She said at which Kerry laughed.

''He's nothing near as bad as Batman was (Batman was their nickname for Riley), I mean him and his Quidditch pick up lines. Geeze he used them on every girl in sight.''

''I know, I was usually there next to him when he said them.'' Lizzie said grimacing. Merlin she hated her ex boyfriend. She hated all of them in fact. Each one she had had (okay apart from Josh, Kerry's brother. She didn't hate Josh, he was nice) had turned out to be a complete and utter prat. Or dickhead. Or whatever word you wanted to use.

The lesson ended and the two girls bid each other farewell and Lizzie went searching for her best friend who wasn't hard to find seeing as the birthday badge James had given her shouted Happy Birthday every five minutes. Lizzie hadn't managed to get her much which she hated herself for. She had spent quite a bit on everyone's Christmas presents and hardly had any money left. She had about ten galleons, two sickles and a knut left to spread over seven birthdays and valentine's day, because she had argued with Sirius that she was getting him something no matter how little money she had left.

Lizzie sometimes forgot her family were poorer than most. She knew it was a terrible thing to do but once you got used to the fact that you had little money, it never came a surprise to you when you were told you couldn't have much for your birthday ect. That was why Lizzie had always tried to give all of her friends and family the best that she could even if she was limited on funds. She knew Lily wouldn't mind about a small present but still felt slightly disappointed in herself for not saving more money.

Finally locating a rather grumpy Lily, she and Beth marched her off to still snow covered courtyard where there was a massive fireworks display set up for her. This had lightened her up but the stupid badge was still singing happy birthday at the top of its lungs. When Lizzie asked why she was still wearing it, Lily had said it wouldn't come off. Thankfully it didn't play through lessons otherwise James would have been in big trouble.

Overall it had been another normal day at Hogwarts. Sirius had been nagging Lizzie about Riley. Apparently he had 'over heard' that part of the conversation. Lizzie was extremely happy he hadn't overheard other parts though. She refused to tell him however and said it could wait for another day. She wasn't in the mood to be talking about _him_ at the moment. But as the day wore on she kept seeing him around the place and had the smallest suspicion he was following her. This made her feel incredibly queasy and hoped just the tiniest bit that Sirius would notice.

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><p><strong>Thrilling isn't it? I thought so. Well not really...but yeah new character. Fun :) <strong>


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: New chapter woo. I'm ill, please forgive the crapiness that this is. Chapter 20 woooo :D Only 53 more to go... **

**Enjoy x**

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><p>It was the morning of Valentine's Day and Remus was woken up by a large dog licking his face off. Remus had a growl at the dog who stopped licking and tried to pull his covers over him again and go back to sleep. It seemed however that Padfoot wouldn't let him. ''Go away Padfoot I want to sleep you mangy mutt.'' Remus was not in the mood to be woken up early seeing as his entire body ached and he had the world's worst headache. Whose idea had it been for him to go on a date the day before the full moon anyway? Oh yes that's right; it had been his sister's. Why the hell had she got him a date with Beth anyway? He was going to ruin it by his foul mood. There was suddenly pressure on his legs as Padfoot turned into Sirius.<p>

''Lizzie said Beth with meet you in the Entrance Hall at ten. We'll be there and Pete and Vickie will be too. Think Prongs is going to try and woo Miss Evans for the day. Now get up soon or your sister will probably drag you out of bed and make you go out in just your 'jama trousers.'' Sirius said letting out a chuckle before getting off Remus' bed and making his way out of the dorm.

Remus just lay there for a moment before groaning and sitting up. He knew he would have to go or Lizzie would have his head. He had promised her after all that he would at least try and be nice to Beth even if it was extremely close to 'his time of the month' as the others like to call it. So getting out of bed slowly as to not make his muscles strain as much as they needed too, Remus made his way to the bathroom which was connected onto their dorm and cupped water from the tap in his hands before throwing it over his face. At least this woke him up a little more. Merlin he was going to be grumpy today.

It seemed however that he was going to be the only one moody. Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail were extremely happy as were Lizzie, Beth and Vickie. It even seemed that Lily was enjoying her morning even though James had tried to ask her out twice already. After getting himself dressed, Remus made his way down to the Great Hall to have a late breakfast trying to ignore the pain in his back. He was the only one of his friends at breakfast and was sure they were all with their respected girl. By the time he finished eating it was near on ten and so he made his way to the Entrance hall to be greeted by Beth (who kissed him on the cheek which made him ever so slightly blush; not that he'd ever admit to it), Sirius and Lizzie who were both trying not to laugh at the sheer amusement of Peter and Vickie. They seemed a little to love struck for his liking and whilst they made their way down the snowy (yes it was still snowing) pathway to Hogsmeade they left them behind.

''It's gross it really is. Please don't say we're that bad.'' Lizzie said turning to look at Sirius who was smirking at her. She didn't think Peter and Vickie was a good match. To be honest she didn't think Peter with anyone was a good match. He was defiantly the one she liked the least out of the Marauders; not that she'd say that to any of the others. He was their friend after all.

''Don't worry; we're nowhere as bad as that love. At least we're not glued to each other's faces.'' This comment caused smirks from Remus and Beth who were walking next to each other. ''And at least we don't go to bloody Madam Puddifoot's.'' Sirius said in disgust.

''Oh Merlin, they're not are they?'' When Lizzie saw Sirius nod she groaned. ''Why would you go there? The place is delightfully horrible.''

''And you would know because...''

''Shut up Remus.'' Lizzie said scowling at her brother who had burst out laughing. He seemed cheerful which was good. Hopefully he wouldn't turn into Moody Moony later on. She knew how her brother got this close to the moon.

The teenagers made their split as they came up to the high street. Peter and Vickie bid their goodbyes and made their way to Madam Puddifoot's, being followed by quiet sniggers. Remus and Beth were going to The Three Broomsticks and Lizzie was happy to see that she and her brother were holding hands. Lizzie and Sirius' first stop was Honeydukes, and he brought her a massive bar of chocolate with a marshmallow filling and plenty of other sweets which Lizzie had tried and failed to stop him buying for her. In the end she gave up knowing he wouldn't stop spending money on her but making her feel bad in the long run for not being able to get him anything. Yes she had got him a present but it was back at the castle.

The day was cold and the wind was chilly but overall the time they spent in Hogsmeade was lovely. After Honeydukes they had made their way through every shop that Sirius thought interesting including Zonko's where he spent no time at all in stocking up on products. Finally they decided to make their way to The Three Broomsticks to check up on Beth and Remus and to see if they had kissed yet (if they hadn't then Lizzie had a plan to make them). However on their way they bumped into someone Lizzie had been trying her hardest not to come into contact with ever since she and Sirius had started dating.

Sam Riley had been walking out of Honeydukes backwards talking to one of his friends inside when he had accidently bumped into someone. He was about to apologise to whoever it was when he realised who was standing before him. A grin filled his face as he looked at Lizzie who seemed not to happy to see him. ''Ahh Lizzie how lovely to see you again. Haven't talked in a while have we.'' He saw Sirius glare at him from beside her. ''So your dating Black then? Didn't take you long to get over me did it.'' He could tell she was trying her hardest not to respond to him. Merlin how could he forget how stubborn she was? That had been one of the things he had loved about her. There had been lots of things he had loved about her, that he still loved about her...''Would you mind talking to me for a second?'' He saw Black take a step closer to Lizzie. ''Alone?'' He said more forcefully this time.

Lizzie thought about it and went entirely against her instincts. She would hear what he had to say and then hopefully could have him leave her alone after this. So nodding reluctantly, she let go of Sirius' hand. Hearing him give a dog like growl she looked over at him and couldn't help but smile at his protectiveness. ''I'll be alright Sirius. Won't be long.'' She said before kissing him on the cheek and motioning Riley to go wherever he was going. They walked down the street a little, still in wide view of Sirius thankfully. Stopping outside a small shop Lizzie looked at him waiting for him to speak.

''You know I would have never have thought you'd go for someone like Black. You used to hate him. I recall you ranting about him a lot.'' He said smirking. He said the look on Lizzie's face that clearly read she wasn't amused and could he get on with it. ''He's no good for you. He'll get rid of you; he gets rid of every girl. You should know that by now. You deserve someone better, someone who properly loves you...''

''Oh and you think you're the person for the job do you? You were so close to destroying my life, do you think I'd let you back in again?'' She asked. Lizzie knew what game he was playing but wasn't going to let herself fall for it again. How could he possibly think she would just accept him after everything he had done to her?

Sam gave her a longing look and reached out to touch her arm. He saw her take a step backwards and grinned as he saw her eyes flash as scared.

''D...don't touch me.'' Lizzie felt her heart sink as she stammered. Now she knew she was in trouble. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to leave Sirius after all.

''You are mine. You will always be mine. I made a mistake letting you go but once I get you I will never let you get free again understand?'' He said his light blue eyes flashing danger. He would get her back if it was the last thing he did. Bending slightly he went to whisper something in her ear.

''I will break you.'' Straitening up again he chuckled as he saw how scared her expression had become. ''See you later Lupin.'' He said putting a hand on her shoulder and feeling her flinch at his touch before walking off.

Lizzie just stood there for a moment, frozen to the spot. She knew exactly what he meant and was scared to the bone. She had told herself she would never let him touch her and now he had. Breathing in slowly she made her way back over to Sirius hoping he wouldn't notice how scared she felt. As she reached him she put her arms around his neck and hugged him. At least she was safe with Sirius.

Sirius had been watched the two of them thinking he was too far away for his own liking. As soon as Lizzie hugged him he knew something was wrong. He hugged her back wanting to know instantly what he had said to her. ''Lizzie what did he say?'' He asked pulling her away to look into her eyes. He saw an emotion there he hadn't seen before. She looked...scared and Sirius felt suddenly extremely protective over her.

Shaking her head, Lizzie gave him a reassuring smile and grabbed his hand. ''Nothing important.'' She said before leading them to The Three Broomsticks. She really really wanted to see if her brother and Beth were getting along well with each other as more than friends. But as soon as she got outside the pub door she felt Sirius stop behind her. Frowning she looked at him, noticing his facial features were cold and hard.

''I've got a better idea.'' He said his voice low. Sirius set off up to the castle, Lizzie following behind. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. He wanted to know what Riley had said to her to make her look like that. He wanted to know everything about the Hufflepuff because he knew he was bad news. He didn't say anything as he strode up the path to the castle which loomed above them. He still remained quite as he made his way up to the Gryffindor common room and up to the boy's dorm. When they were safely inside, he closed her door a little more forcefully then was probably needed.

''You tell me everything about him right this instant. Understand?'' He said his voice unnaturally harsh. He knew in an instant his tone was the wrong one to use and his expression softened as he looked at Lizzie. ''Sorry love I-'' But he was cut across by Lizzie.

''No you're right, I need to tell you. It's not fair of me to keep you in the dark. '' She sighed at sat down on the nearest bed and looked down at the floor. She felt Sirius sit next to her and put an arm around her. ''I'd better start from the beginning then hadn't I.'' She said sighing.

''Take your time love.'' Sirius said simply.

Lizzie took a deep breath in and exhaled it slowly. She had had trouble in telling Lily, Beth, Kerry, Megan and Erin about this and now she had to tell the one person she cared so much about. This was going to be hell. ''Sam Riley is one of those people who, when you first meet them, take your breath away. He first approached me when I was in the library one day in October. He said to me that I had caught his eye and was wondering if I would like to go to Hogsmeade with him on Saturday? I jumped to the chance seeing as he was quite cute and I remember my mind was telling me he was extremely gorgeous and so not to mess this up. So Saturday came and we had a brilliant time in Hogsmeade and I got to know a lot about him and he walked me back to the castle like a right gentleman. After that we went on two more dates until he finally asked me out. Me being a stupid fourteen year old said yes and so it went from there. For the first two/three months it was amazing. He was lovely, kind, caring, anything a girl would want. Then one day he started to show the real side of him. He was moody and had a right go at me for nothing in particular. When he was shouting he was holding my wrist...a little too tight. The next morning I had a bruise there.''

As soon as she said that she felt Sirius take her arm and examine her wrist. He did the same with the other one and Lizzie couldn't help but smile at this. When he seemed to be satisfied, she carried on. ''From then on he was always a little more rough with me. He hit me once but after that I think he came to his senses because he never got angry at me again. Everything was fine for another month or so before I started to hear rumours. Separate girls came up to me and told me he was cheating on me. Although I trusted him I had a suspicion they were true. I found out I was right when Megan and Erin came up to me one break and told me what he had nearly done to them. They said that he had been coming onto them for some time and even thought they had both told him they weren't interested he wouldn't take no for an answer...''

Lizzie had no idea how she was going to carry on. This was the part that always got to her and she really didn't want to tell Sirius. ''...apparently he had had enough one day and had tried to r-'' No she couldn't go on, it was just too much. She rested her head on Sirius shoulder and felt his arm tighten around her. She was perfectly safe she had to remind herself. ''He had tried to r...rape Erin. She had thankfully managed to get away from him but he had threatened her that if she told anyone he would do so much more. From then on both Megan and Erin kept an eye on me, making sure he didn't make a move on me. There were some days where he was so close and...'' She couldn't help it. She could feel the tears escape from her eyes and run down her face.

Sirius felt something heavy on his chest. Riley had tried to hurt her like that? How could he be so...in-human? ''Please tell me he didn't.'' He asked his voice an almost silent plead. He never wanted to let her go ever.

''He was s...so close Siri...I was so sc...scared...he said he was going to break me...''

Sirius knew somehow that the last part was about today and he silently promised them both that he was never going to let that monster touch her ever again. Moving her a little, he got her to place her head on the pillow of his bed and lay next to her, pulling her body close to his as she cried. Sirius could feel his heart break as he heard her sobs and wished he could do something for her. ''I...I love you Lizzie. I always have. I will never ever let him anywhere near you again. I promise you sweetheart. '' He kissed the top of her head trying to calm himself down and hoping he wouldn't break down as well. She needed him and there was no way he was going to leave her.

Finally after what seemed like hours he heard her sobs die down. ''Who have you told?'' he asked quietly still keeping her close to him. He let his hand stroke through her hair, calming her down.

''Lils...Beth, Kerry...Megan and Erin.'' Lizzie said almost inaudibly. She had never had the courage to tell her brother or parents knowing they would have wanted to ask questions. At least Sirius' hadn't asked her any yet. ''Please don't make me tell Moony or Prongs.'' She said placing her head closer to his chest, breathing in and smelling the scent of snow, strawberries and a slight hint of wet dog and cigarettes.

He could hear her sound desperate and knew he couldn't force her to do anything she didn't want to. ''I won't make you love, don't worry.'' He said listening to the silence of her rattled breathing. ''I've got you a Valentine's present by the way.'' He said sitting up and unsettling her as he reached over to his bedside table and opened the draw. He pulled out a rectangular box and gave it to her. ''Happy Valentine's Day Lele.''

Smiling at him as she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper, Lizzie opened the box with slightly shaking fingers to find a silver necklace with a sun and a star on it. She smiled before taking it out of the box and letting it dangle from her fingers. ''It's...it's beautiful. Thank you. '' She said. She felt Sirius take it off her fingers, undo it and put it round her neck.

''Your beautiful.'' He said kissing her passionately.

''And you're so cheesy.'' She said teasing him as she pulled away from the kiss.

''That I am love. Now shall we go and see how Moony and Miss Bethany got on?'' he asked wanting to take her mind off what they had just talked about.

Lizzie nodded. ''Yes alright then and she'll kill you if she ever finds out that you called her Bethany you know. First however, I just need to get your present. I'll be right back.'' She said before getting off the bed opening the door to the boy's dorm and running down the stairs and making her way to the girl's dorm where she had left Sirius' present. She grabbed it and made her way back up to where her boyfriend was waiting. Giving him an oddly shaped small package, Sirius undid it to find a miniature wooden version of Padfoot. As soon as he held him the little dog came to life and started to run around in circles on the palm of his hand chasing his tail.

Grinning, Sirius looked up at Lizzie. ''This is amazing love, thank you.'' He said putting it on his bedside table before giving Lizzie a quick kiss. ''Come on then let's find our lucky couple.'' Sirius said grabbing her hand and leading her down into the common room. There was no sign on them and so they stepped out of the portrait hole and out into the corridor. ''Ahhh must be dinner.'' He said and he set off to the Great Hall. It was indeed filled with food and people and so Lizzie and Sirius made their way to where their friends were sat.

Apparently the date had gone well for both Remus and Beth and also Peter and Vickie. Beth had told Lizzie the amusing story of Remus getting extremely grumpy, walking out then ten minutes later walking back into the pub sitting back down again telling her he was sorry and then kissing her. Remus had blushed all through the story in which Lizzie had found hilarious and had commented on how her brother was 'such a gentleman'.

Later on, in the common room both Moony and Prongs had come up to Sirius asking if Lizzie was alright. He had answered half-truthfully saying that they had had a little talk about something and now the whole thing had been dealt with. Their looks that told him that they didn't believe him 100% but Sirius was glad when they didn't press any further on the matter. He knew it would take time for Lizzie to tell them and perhaps she never would but he would always be with her whatever decision she made.


	21. Chapter 21

**I would like to apologise at how late this is. I had writers block and a lot had happened since I posted the last chapter. I didn't exactly like the last chapter much either but it'll do. This one isn't very long but I pushed myself to do it. Happy Birthday for yesterday Remus :D Someone asked me for some Beth/Remus stuff and I promise I will do some next chapter, I just couldn't think of anything for this one. Enjoy :) xx**

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><p>More birthday's had come and gone, this time Lizzie and Remus'. It had taken a lot of time for the others to wake the two siblings up and after fifteen minutes with no success, Lily had practically shoved Lizzie out of been with very loud protests and in the other dorm, Sirius had turned into Padfoot and jumped on Remus until he had woken up. Both twins were incredibly grumpy all morning and what didn't help was that it was raining and windy outside. They both seemed to have cheered up at lunch and everyone was thankful for it. They were both notorious for being grumpy when they were woken up too early.<p>

Sirius had asked Lizzie about twenty times that day if his present was the best. Although Lizzie had tried to say nothing to this she finally gave up on him and said yes to shut him up. Sirius had seemed satisfied with her answer, something Lizzie could easily roll her eyes at. She had spent a lot of time, not only with her boyfriend, but with her best friends as well. Lizzie had over-heard them talking about the fact that she spent too much time with Sirius. At first she would have been ready to argue, but as she thought about it she knew they were right. So spending more time with her friends had been mandatory from that point onwards. Secretly, Lizzie had been scared that Sirius would say something but in contrast he was completely fine with the idea. She would never be able to choose between her friends and her boyfriend and was thankful that she didn't have to in this circumstance.

Her boyfriend had been a lot sweeter to her over the last few weeks and Lizzie mentally thanked him for being there for her whenever she needed him. She knew it was all because of what she had told him about Riley but thankfully her ex hadn't talked to her since Valentine's Day. Sirius had become even more protective, if that was even possible. Maybe a little too protective is some circumstances but Lizzie didn't mind, not really.

The day after her's and Remus' birthday, she and Sirius were walking down the corridor coming back from dinner, hand in hand just talking about completely random things. Sirius, not looking where he was going bumped into someone who hurried past him. Turning around to see who it was, he saw the haughty expression of his brother.

''Watch where you're going idiot.'' Regulas spat glaring at his older brother.

''That's rich coming from you Reg.'' Sirius said returning the glare but sounded as though he was just having a normal conversation.

''Shut up you prat. Just because you seemed to bag yourself every girl in this school and think your better than the rest of us doesn't mean you are.'' It seemed the youngest Black brother was in a bad mood today. Well that would surely start Sirius off as it nearly always.

Sure enough Sirius reached for his wand and pointed it at his brother. He saw Regulas flinch slightly, something that sent alarm bells ringing in the depths of his mind. Sirius however let the hatred for his brother come out on top. ''Are you scared? Why don't you go running back to mummy and daddy and they'll protect you. They'll show you the right way to live in their opinion.''

''Shut up!'' Regulas said through gritted teeth. Lizzie knew this wasn't going to end well and so held tight to her wand in her pocket. Her eyes swept from one brother to the other trying to calculate the first to make their move. Having a guess that it would be Sirius, she was surprised when Regulas made first attack and sent a silent spell towards his brother. A fourth year using non-verable spells also surprised her but then, she had to remind herself, both were from the Black Family, one that was very advanced in magic.

Sirius had dodged his brother's spell but only just. He sent another back but missed by inches. A small growl escaped from his lips as he tried his hardest to get his little brother to back down. He didn't want to hurt him, not really but knew he would do anything to stop him from hurting someone else. ''Is that the best you can do?'' He asked, eyes glinting in the sun that flooded through the window beside him. 'No, no don't say that you idiot.' He heard Lizzie mutter and Sirius couldn't help but chuckle.

Caught off guard for a moment as he looked over at his girlfriend, he didn't see the spell coming straight towards him and hitting him square in the chest. Sirius rose a few feet in the air and landed on the hard stone floor, hitting his head against a wall. ''Ow, bloody hell.'' He muttered to himself as he picked himself up from the floor quickly. This didn't do him any good however and before long his head had started spinning.

Lizzie had been ready for action as soon as she had seen Regulas send that spell. She stood to face him, eyes blazing and she saw Regulas take a few steps back. It seemed he had not forgotten the last time he had seen her duel the other Slytherins. ''Go now, and you won't get hurt.'' She said simply. Lizzie wasn't one to send hexes just for the sake of it and so she gave him fare warning. She heard Sirius come up behind her and place a hand on her shoulder to steady himself.

''You're lucky to have someone to stand up for you, even if it is a filthy half blood.'' Regulas said, his eyes darting to Lizzie briefly, before he dashed off. Sirius was about to run after him, but Lizzie stopped him wish a gentle hand on his arm.

''Leave it.'' She said simply knowing how worked up Sirius got when he heard someone say that.

''But he called you a –''

''And I don't care. Now come on and let me see how your head is. You know you really shouldn't have retaliated back, it only made things worse.'' She said leading him to a nearby bench and sitting him down on it, before she checked how his head was. Everything looked fine from what she saw (healing Remus at home after the full moon and having a mum who worked at a hospital helped her know all the signs of injuries) and she sat down beside her boyfriend. ''Don't retaliate next time okay?'' She said giving him a small smile and a kiss.

''Yeah yeah alright. He still shouldn't have called you that though.'' Sirius muttered.

Lizzie sighed. It seemed he wasn't going to drop this anytime soon. ''Like I said, I don't care. Maybe a couple of years ago I would have but I don't know. Their only words and if they don't hurt the person they were intended for then it's alright. I mean come on, do you really think I'd be offended by a fourth year telling me something like that? You've got to be kidding me.'' Lizzie said grinning and was happy to see Sirius grin back at her.

''Okay Miss I-Don't-Care-What-Anyone-Says-To-Me, stop being so...so...you!'' Sirius said chuckling at her. He had a headache but felt much better with Lizzie by his side. ''Come on let's go back to the common room. I'm bored.''

xoxox

Lizzie didn't correct Sirius about his comment that she 'didn't care what anyone said to her'. He seemed in a happy mood even after the confrontation with his brother and she wouldn't deflate his mood by saying that she did care what people said to her. To her Regulas Black was one of those people that you couldn't help but pity. Sirius did talk negative about him a lot but Lizzie knew there was something of a close bond behind all the hatred. Regulas couldn't stand up for himself that easily and always took the easier route. He always made sure he had someone with him to defend him if things got rough; that was what Lizzie and sussed anyway. It was practically the same way with most of the Slytherins it was just Regulas seemed weaker.

Something the Slytherin had said had made her think. Well it wasn't what he had said; it was _how_ he had said it. _''You're lucky to have someone to stand up for you, even if it is a filthy half blood.'' _To Lizzie this sounded like he was jealous of his brother which was possible. Even though Regulas had his family behind him, Sirius had a very tight group of amazing friends who stuck by him in everything. Regulas wanted someone to stand up for him that actually cared about him; he wanted Sirius to care about him. If this was actually true or just her mind thinking at one-hundred miles per hour about completely odd things Lizzie didn't know but she'd take a stab and say the first option. Her opinion about people was hardly ever wrong...unless you counted Severus, James and Sirius. Especially Sirius.

As they clambered through the portrait hole, Sirius stopped Lizzie from walking any further. The look on his face showed that like her, he had been thinking hard about something. The emotion in his eyes was hard to read however. ''Listen Lele. I know you said you didn't care what he said to you, but I do. It's not right for any of them to talk to you like that as though you don't mean anything. It's not right for anyone to do that, not Riley or Snape and defiantly not my brother. You mean something, don't you ever forget that.'' He said.

Lizzie looked at him wondering where that little speech had come from. ''Well with you about how can I forget that. You seem to tell me every two minutes.'' She said giving him a gentle smile.

''I failed at telling Reg that and protecting him; I don't want to do the same to you.'' He said before kissing her and heading towards where his friends were sat playing Exploding Snap.

There was something different in the air from that moment onwards. Lizzie stopped there for a few minutes trying her hardest to realise what it was. Not being able to work out that particular emotion of hers however, she made her way to where the girls sat finishing off homework. As she sat down in an empty chair she took out her half finished Transfiguration essay and started scribbling away at it.

It was around twenty minutes later that she looked up from her now almost completed essay and concentrated her gaze over to Sirius who had James in a headlock. Shaking her head and smiling to herself, Lizzie continued with her essay until she had finished the last word. Placing her quill on top of her piece of parchment, she looked up again as the two boys were now wrestling each other. Would they ever grow up? She asked herself. The answer was clearly no. They may mature slightly but they would never grow up. She saw Sirius look over and give her a wink.

'_I failed at protecting Reg; I don't want to do the same to you'..._

This got her thinking. He hated that he had failed his brother, that was obvious and now he was scared of doing the same thing to her. Lizzie knew he would never fail her, not even if he was the biggest idiot on the planet because she loved him more than anything. That's right she loved him and finally wasn't too scared to say it. She had finally figured out that feeling that had been inside her for quite some time. Maybe it had been there from the start and was only now starting to bloom.

''What are you so happy about?'' Lily asked as she saw the happy smile on her best friends face.

Lizzie turned towards Lily and grinned at her. ''I think I'm in love.'' She said simply.

''Well it's about bloody time you figured that out.'' Beth said loudly an exasperated look on her face. It wasn't long before her mouth spread into a grin. ''What I meant to say was, I'm happy for you.'' The two girls just looked at each other before laughing.

''I think you were right with the first one.'' Lizzie said looking over at Sirius again who was tackaling James to the floor.

There was a sudden gasp from Beth. ''Wouldn't it be wonderful if you two got married?'' He exclaimed.

''Woah, woah woah, one think at a time Bethany...although if we did get married you wouldn't be my wedding planner.'' Lizzie saw the look on Beth's face and she rolled her eyes. ''Come on remember third year when you thought you'd re-design the dorm and you chose orange and purple. Or what about the time when you decided on styling Zoe's hair and you made it go extremely frizzy and blue?'' This brought all three girls into hysterics and five minutes passed before they calmed down again.

''So are you going to tell him that you love him or are you just going to sit there?''

''For the moment I'm just going to sit here, finish off Potions, _and then_ tell him.''

xoxox

It was now around five to eleven and Lizzie felt her eyes dropping. Potions had taken her longer than she had expected. Well that's what she told herself, in reality it was because she was thinking of the right moment to tell Sirius. She didn't know why she found it so hard to say those three simple words but somehow every time she thought about them they got stuck in her throat. Beth had gone over to see Remus and so it was only her and Lily seated in the corner. Lizzie couldn't hold in the yawn that was desperate to escape.

''Sorry Lils but I think I might go to bed but first I must tell my boyfriend something.'' She said gathering all of her stuff together and putting it back in her bag. She stood up and made her way through the almost empty common room to where the boys were. She saw Beth snuggled up to Remus and that she had fallen asleep. It seemed that her brother was dozing off as well. The couple looked cute together and she smiled to herself.

''I'm going to bed now Siri.'' She said placing herself on his lap and putting her arms around his neck in the armchair he was sat in.

Sirius kissed her softly on the lips. ''Okay baby, have a good sleep and I will see you in the morning.''

Lizzie cuddled in closer to him catching some of his scent. He smelt more of wet dog this time but surprisingly it didn't smell that bad on him. She knew now was the best time to say it. There was nothing stopping her, there was no one here to ruin it. All she had to do was to say it. ''I love you.'' She said a smiling forming on her lips.

Sirius was taken aback for a moment before he processed the words. Had she really just said...? ''What?'' It wasn't the best answer but it was the only thing he could come out with at this moment.

''I said I love you.'' She repeated.

He had thought it would have taken her longer than this to say it; they weren't even three months into the relationship yet. He had thought she would have taken longer to come out with that, but evidently he had been wrong. ''Well guess what? I love you too.''

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><p><strong>Isn't that cute? Yeah I thought so. Next chapter wont take as long hopefully :) x<strong>


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: HEY EVERYONE! Have you missed me? I sure missed you all. I finally managed to get this written thanks to a friend of mine. I suppose this should be dedicated to that person as a thank you but I'd rather do that to a...happier chapter. Not saying that chapter is a bummer or anything...okay I'm rambling now. I'm sorry it took me so long to reply and I feel so bad about it but I think I'm on track now that's all good :) Enjoy :) I love you all. Thank you for being so patient xxxxxx**

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><p>Aprils' full moon was dawning closer for Remus and he was starting to feel the ache in his bones as they got ready for his transformation. Studying had done his headache no good and so for once Remus had put down all his books and refused to pick another one up until after the full moon which was in three days. After this declaration however, he felt slightly lost without the comforting smell of Sherlock Holmes and the comfortable position he always ended up in whenever he settled himself into a chair or on his bed. He had instead taken to listening to music with Sirius' record player which he had got for his birthday in his second year from James. Seeing as the four boys never seemed to move rooms (James and Sirius had said they had pleaded McGonagall to let them stay in that same room) the record player had stayed in the dorm and would have music playing from it regularly.<p>

Just laying on his bed and listening to music helped Remus stay calm. It helped Moony stay calm too and Remus was sure the wolf loved the music as much as he did. He, Sirius, James and Peter all had their preferences when it came to muggle music but all shared their albums with each other. Sirius was an obvious Beatles fan and had all of their albums up to date. Remus was also quite partial to The Beatles. James preferred The Rolling Stones whilst Peter stuck with The Who and The Bee Gees. It was known fact that Sirius had brought a large amount of muggle albums to go against his family. Of course they would never know he was listening to muggle music but Remus though it was a silent celebration that his parents didn't know every single thing he did to make them mad.

Lying with him was Beth, her head on his chest and his arm around her. She seemed to understand the importance of just listening to the song and not uttering a single word. She seemed to understand how important this was to Remus and that was one of the main things he liked about her. She understood. Okay all of his friends understood him but Beth was different. She didn't ask questions, she just knew what he felt like. She didn't act any different around him when it was the full moon and would treat him as she normally would; which spread to telling him off when he was extremely grumpy with her. Remus was glad he had someone who wasn't his sister or his best friends to talk to about everything. Yes they did understand and support him but sometimes Remus felt that they all worried too much about him. It got on his nerves from time to time but didn't want to say anything about it; they were only looking out for him after all.

He could feel the wolf just underneath his skin, just waiting until the full moon was upon it. After that it would happily erupt from him and roam for the night. He had to admit ever since the others had turned into Animagi, his transformations had been less violent and he had caused less injury to himself, but this month the wolf seemed agitated about something and he didn't know what it was. He could almost be certain that this month was not going to be very happy at all. But he didn't have to worry about that now; all was calm as he listened to the steady beat of the song. It was nice to have a peaceful afternoon before everything turned upside down for him.

As they lay there the dormitory door suddenly banged open, flying against the wall as James, Sirius and Peter entered looking as though they had just run up all seven floors to the common room. Remus could see the silvery material of James' invisibility cloak clenched in Wormtail's hand and he clutched a stitch in his right side. The cloaks owner yanked it out of the short boys hand and placed it away in his trunk carefully as though it was the most precious thing on Earth.

''Prank gone wrong?'' Remus said chuckling at the three boys' expressions. He had not been in the mood to follow them in whatever they were doing but was up to hearing all about it.

''Understatement of the century Moony.'' James said over-dramatically as he flopped down on his bed. ''Filch nearly caught us trying to charm the suits of armour to tell inappropriate jokes and then he nearly got stuck in one of our roll up carpets. Then Peeves didn't help the situation, stupid poltergeist. He saw that McGonagall was coming down the corridor and so decided to turn invisible and make several portraits fly off the walls. The she walked past the worst suit of armour she could have possibly have walked past. So we ran for it.'' James said sighing heavily as though what had happened had been the worst thing ever.

''And to add to that, Wormtail had left the cloak lying on the floor so we had to backtrack to get it.'' Sirius said scowling at the other boy before throwing himself on his bed as dramatically as James had done. Wormtail looked down at his shoes not saying anything.

''Really'' Sirius carried on. ''We need a damn map to get round the castle undetected.''

''Well as long as you don't get a detention on Wednesday then its all fine.'' Remus said grinning at the others. He was used to how dramatic they liked to be and it amused him thoroughly. Even though he was a prefect, Remus knew he could never tell his friends off. Lily had talked to him about it many times but he had always said the same thing. They were his best friends, why would he stop them doing what they wanted and most of all _how_ would he stop them? Because even though they didn't look it, all three boys were the most stubborn people you could ever meet.

It had been a somewhat silent promise that none of them would get a detention on a full moon. All of them had always been there for his transformations and Remus didn't know how he would cope with even just one of them missing. Peter, although he was just a rat did help the wolf calm down, Sirius was there to help him not attack himself too much and James made sure that he didn't attack the others or escape from the shack. If one of them wasn't there then it would surely be disastrous...

xoxox

In the end, all three boys had gained detention for the whole week. McGonagall had made it quite clear that they should be happy it wasn't for longer. They would also have the detentions separately as to not encourage them Marauders to do something they shouldn't. Having separate detentions never worked though seeing as James and Sirius had mirror's in which they could contact each other. The boys had all been up to creating more chaos until Remus had pointed out that they needed to get off from detention in time on Wednesday. He didn't want to think of the consequences of them not being able to get there in time. Remus tried his hardest to think positively though. It was no good to run these possibilities over in his mind and worry himself; that's what Lizzie had said anyway.

He had seen his sister giving the three boys (especially Sirius) a good talking to that if they messed up and got a longer detention on Wednesday then they wouldn't know what had hit them. He knew Lizzie was just humouring herself for the main part at seeing Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail look slightly scared at what she was saying but knew there was a large amount of truth in her words. He knew his sister had a rather feisty temper (she had gotten that from their mother) and plus he knew how protective of him she was and hoped none of his best friends would do anything to make her snap.

It seemed however that in these last few months; defiantly the ones where she had been going out with Sirius, she was a lot calmer and wouldn't let her anger flare up as much. Yes she did have arguments from time to time and yes her and Sirius did get into fights but it wasn't about anything big and they always resolved it quickly after. All in all, it seemed that Sirius Black was having a good affect on Lizzie and Remus was forever grateful for that.

xoxox

Wednesday was upon them and Remus was getting agitated as he normally did. He had everyone trying to calm him down to the extent where it had all gotten too much. He had stormed out of the Common Room after yelling at his friends, sister and girlfriend to all shut up and to leave him alone. He knew it hadn't been his smartest move and part of him wanted to go back in there and apologise but knew that wouldn't do any good now. So he carried on walking not knowing exactly where he was going. He ended up in a deserted corridor before he stopped and sighed. Why did the moon have to affect him so much? Why couldn't he just go a whole month without having to transform into a hideous beast?

Sliding down a nearby wall, Remus put his head in his hands and tried to calm himself down. Sometimes the whole ordeal just got to him and now was one of those times. He didn't know what he was going to do. He didn't know if he could last through another transformation. The pain was just too much sometimes...

He heard footsteps and half expected it to be his sister coming to see if he was okay. But then, he had to remind himself, he had just shouted at her (more than any of the others really) and she would possibly be pissed off at him for a while now. He was more surprised to see Beth sitting down next to him and wrapping her arms around him. Why he was surprised that his girlfriend had come to check up on him was beyond anyone's guess, but then Remus wasn't thinking properly at the moment.

''Rem...are you alright?'' Beth asked kindly as she looked into the slightly amber eyes of the werewolf.

''Do I look alright?'' Remus snapped. The wolf was gaining control and he had to fight it. ''Sorry BB, I...no I'm not.'' He leaned against Beth and felt her arms tighten around him.

''Oh Remmie, everything's going to be okay I promise. I know it's hard sometimes and I couldn't possibly understand what you're going through, but sweetie you have to remember that you're not alone in this. I know that you sometimes feel like giving up, Lizzie told me, but honey you're stronger than anyone I know. You will always come out stronger and I'll always be by your side.'' She kissed the side of his head and held him for all he was worth.

''I don't deserve you.'' Remus said after a short silence. He knew Beth was right; it was just hard for him to believe in himself from time to time.

''No Rem, you deserve a hell of a lot more. Just remember though that I'm always here if you need me. So are Lizzie and Lily and Sirius, James and Peter. We're all here to look after you, you know. '' She felt Remus cuddle up to her and she chuckled. ''You're adorable, you know that?'' She said putting two fingers under his chin and turning his head towards her before giving his a sweet kiss on the lips.

Remus gave a smile as they broke apart. ''You're not too bad yourself. '' He concluded. He took one of her hands and squeezed it gently. He really didn't deserve any of the people he had around him but then...who was he to complain really?

xoxox

They arrived in the Common Room soon after, Beth telling him that if they didn't hurry up then Lizzie was going to come and find them both. As they entered the circular room, he saw that the other Marauders weren't there; evidently they had gone off to their detentions. Hand in hand, the two Gryffindor's made their way over to where Lizzie, Lily and Zoe were, doing homework.

He saw his sister motion for him to sit next to her and so letting go of Beth's hand he sat on the sofa and was immediately developed into a hug. Lizzie always did the best hugs when he felt like crap and now wasn't an exception. He always knew what her hugs meant: _be careful, look after yourself, I still want a brother by the end of tonight you know, I'm always here, you're always going to have me to look after you tomorrow, always._

''Sorry for shouting earlier Lele...'' He said knowing that there really wasn't any point in apologising; she would have already forgiven him.

''It's okay Rem, I understand. Now I told the boys that if their late then they'll have me to answer to. But they won't be late Rem so don't worry. Look after yourself okay? I'll be thinking of you and I'll defiantly come visit you in the Hospital Wing tomorrow okay? Be brave Rem. I'm always here, always...''

He could tell Lizzie was worrying. He knew she always worried about him, but this time he could actually feel it radiate off of her. It was like she knew tonight wasn't going to be a good one. Remus had always suspected that they had a connection; they were twins after all and wasn't it said that twins can know something has happened to the other even if their miles apart? He wondered that if he was hurting during the full moon, wasn't she, even if it was just a tiny bit? The thought was slightly unbearable for him to think about. He cared so much about his sister and to think that he was causing her pain in any way...well he didn't think he'd be able to take it.

''I know you are Lele and I'm always here for you too. You seem to forget that...'' He knew he had accidently hit a sore spot and decided not to go any further. ''I expect chocolate tomorrow okay?'' He said changing the subject.

''Of course Rem, I'll bring you your whole stash.'' Lizzie said laughing. She knew she was going to spend another night awake, worrying about him. It seemed like her monthly routine when it was full moon but then she wouldn't have it any other way. Remus was worth a whole load of sleepless nights and hours of worry, he always would be to her.

''Not all of it Lizzie. Just maybe half...'' He said chuckling. Truth be told he liked having these little moments with his sister. Ones where they could talk about anything. Before Hogwarts, whenever it had rained heavily, they would always make little dens in one of their bedrooms and talk for hours underneath the blankets they had put up to block out the dreary weather outside. He missed those moments and instantly decided that one day he should make time for Lizzie and no one else and find out everything or as much as he could about her that she had been hiding from him because Remus knew there was a lot of things his sister hadn't told him. He would never rush her though. If she wanted to talk to him then he would let her in her own time.

xoxox

Remus was making his way down to the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey would escort him to the Whomping Willow. Time had ticked on and he was starting to get that layer of concern again. He knew something was going to happen, something bad and he didn't know what it was. He had a feeling that the others were going to be late tonight and Remus hoped that he was wrong.

Time ticked on and it was time for him to go. His body was aching and felt heavy under the stress. His head hurt and he felt his skin tingle every time he passed a window and moon light flooded over him. He knew it was going to be a painful transformation, more so than usual and he was bracing himself for being ripped apart viciously.

He walked down the dingy tunnel that led to the Shrieking Shack and pushed open the trap door that led into the dusty and broken interior of the house. Nearly everything in this first room was in shreds and there were died blood stains everywhere. Remus hated this place with a passion and seeing it in his human self only made the feelings stronger and worse.

Pacing wasn't going to do him any good and he knew that. Pacing always made him more agitated and that was something he couldn't be handling at the moment. The time was nearly upon him and yet Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail weren't here yet. Unless he had mistaken the time (his body was telling him otherwise) they should have been here around fifteen minutes ago...

There were mere minutes and he was starting to get desperate. He started to panic before telling himself that he should remain calm because they could be here any moment...

They weren't...

And when that thought hit him so did the moon and he felt himself ripping to pieces. He collapsed on the floor in pain and tried to breathe as the felt bones stretching and a few snapping. He let out a painful cry and he felt the wolf erupt from inside of him and force its way out into the world. The light seemed to be getting dimmer and dimmer and Remus knew he didn't have that long before he was taken over completely. His weak cries soon turned into whimpering howls and his last thought before everything became black was

'_where are they'?_

To Be Continued...

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><p><strong>AN: Am I evil...why yes, yes I am haha :D It's full moon tonight...be careful Rem :) **


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Hello my darlings :) Here's the second part of that nasty cliff-hanger I left you on. Longest chapter (6,496 words eeeep) Took me ages but finally did it thankfully :) I hope you enjoy it. Obviously you all know me by now and the fact that they're probably mistakes in this. I'll get round to sorting them out...one day xD Enjoy xxx Ps: This is for Sirius and Loey :) much love**

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><p>Severus Snape had always wondered where Remus Lupin disappeared to every so often. There were always at least a couple of days every month in which he completely and utterly disappeared. Through-out the years, Severus had been very intrigued in what the Gryffindor was up to and had soon realised that each occurrence happened around the full moon. He had put two and two together not so long ago and had decided to see if his ideas were correct.<p>

He also had the feeling that Black, Potter and Pettigrew had something to do with it as well. The four pranksters were always together in whatever they were doing and so he had decided that Lupin's disappearances has something to do with the other three boys.

What Snape really wanted to do was catch them in the act of doing something they should be. It would be glorious for him to get them into trouble for all the times they had made his life hell. Okay maybe not directly Lupin and Pettigrew, but defiantly Potter and Black. He would do anything to get them back for everything they had done to him.

He had known ever since Lizzie had refused to tell him about her brother that something was up. He knew she was hiding something and so after not being able to get it out of her himself, he would go about it his own way. That was why he was hiding in the Entrance Hall, just waiting to see if anyone walked by. He knew Lupin would do with Madam Pomfrey by his side but he wasn't just waiting for them. He was waiting for Potter, Black and Pettigrew to turn up because surely they wouldn't be far behind.

Severus had spied on them two or three times before, always completely out of view and had noticed them go out of the doors from ten minutes to half an hour after Lupin had. This was why, after he had seen the Gryffindor go out of the doors looking extremely pale, he waited until the others turned up. Then he would follow them as silently as he possibly could and see what they were up to. Hopefully everything would go to plan and if not...well he'd think of that when it happened.

So hiding in the shadows, he waited until the sounds of distant voices filled his ears...

Xoxox

''Stupid idiot...'' Sirius mumbled as he quickly made his way down to the Entrance Hall, taking any stairs he encountered two at a time. ''Why the hell did he have to do that?'' A scowl covered his face as he descended lower through the castle. He and James had been placed in the same room for detention that night and James had thought it funny to blow up some of the jars full of ink they were meant to be cleaning. That obviously meant that they had to stay later and clean up. It seemed that the bespectacled boy hadn't thought of that and even though they had worked a hell of a lot quicker than they normally would to clean up, they were still extremely late into being with Remus. On top of that, James had forgotten the invisibility cloak and so had had to go up to the dorm to get it. Sirius not wanting to waist any more time had made his way down to the Entrance Hall to wait for his friend.

Sirius already knew they were dangerously late and there was a good chance that Moony being too far gone in his werewolf state might mean it would be too dangerous for them to actually enter the Shack. Sirius didn't like the idea of leaving Remus on his own and knew nothing good would come out of it. He had after all promised Lizzie he'd look after him at any cost and knew his girlfriend wouldn't be happy if he couldn't get in the Shack to look after her brother.

He got to the Entrance Hall and immediately had the feeling that someone was watching him. Turning around slowly on the stop, he tried to spot any un-wanted spies. He sub-consciously gripped his wand in his pocket as he searched for something that would tell him that he was being watched. Sure enough he saw the shadowy figure of Snape in the gloominess behind a statue.

''Snivillus, what are you doing here?'' Sirius said glaring at his rival. He knew the Slytherin was up to something. Why else would he be here? Sirius hoped he wouldn't cause any trouble. For once he didn't want to fight him or make fun of him; all he wanted to do was to get to Remus in time. The clock was ticking away and the animagus was sure they were too late.

''I could ask the same for you Black.'' Snape sneered. Of course if his calculations were right, he knew why Black was here, but he didn't want to give him the benefit of the doubt. ''Probably up to no good again aren't you.''

''That's none of your business Snape.'' Sirius listened for James' footsteps but everything was silent. Maybe he should just hex him; that would just solve the problem for now and then he could just sort it all out later...no...no that probably wouldn't be best.

Severus made sure his wand was in reach, just in case Black did anything funny. He needed something that would get Black to tell him what they were up too or at least something that would get him to follow them. He knew the Gryffindor wasn't stupid though and so he would have to do it with caution. ''It may not be my business but it certainly is McGonagall's...or maybe even Dumbledore's. I'm sure both would want to know why you're sneaking around at night...''

Sirius growled slightly. He didn't want to give into Snape, but at the same time he didn't want McGonagall to find out what they were doing.

''I mean, you can't be the only one up to something. I'm sure McGonagall would be delighted if she found out that Potter, Pettigrew and maybe even both of the Lupin's were in on whatever you were doing...'' Snape knew he had hit a sore spot and tired not to let a smirk cover his face.

''Leave them out of this Snape. You have no right to accuse them of anything.'' He was mainly talking about Remus and Lizzie and Sirius knew he wasn't doing himself any favours by saying that but he just couldn't let the Slytherin say that about the people who meant the most to him. He could feel his anger bubble up slightly inside of him. It would do no good to get angry now but he just couldn't help it.

Snape knew he was getting somewhere by the sound of Black's voice. He bore into Black's grey eyes seeing how unsettled they were. He knew that if he pushed just a little more than he would finally get through to the information that he wanted. ''I'm sure they're both apart of this, especially Lizzie; she's defiantly one to keep secrets...'' He knew he had finally pushed over the boundary when Sirius got hold of the front of his robes and looked dangerously at him.

''Don't speak about my girlfriend like that Snivillus, I'm warning you...one more word...'' Sirius' anger was now at boiling point. He had known what Snape had been trying to do and had foolishly let him get his way, but not for much longer. Sirius wouldn't have him talk about Lizzie like that. After everything the Slytherin had put her through...well Sirius had to admit he didn't know a lot of what had happened, she had only told Remus the full story but he knew it was only to look out for him. Lizzie had told him that if he knew then he would do something that would get him in a lot of trouble.

''Have I hit a nerve Black? It's true though isn't it...she keeps a lot of things hidden, a lot more than you think. There's so much she's never told you...stuff that she's told me. Maybe she doesn't trust you Black, I mean who would? I bet her brother has things to hide as well but I'm sure you know about that...''

Sirius had had enough and reached for his wand from his pocket. He still had hold of Snape and with his other hand pointed his wand at him. He seriously didn't care what he did to the Slytherin now; he had gone way too far and Sirius had a mind to beat the shit out of him. ''You don't know anything Snape .'' Sirius spat and let go of his robes. ''But you know what? If you want to know then go down to the Whomping Willow and press the knot in the middle of the trunk. You'll find all of your bloody answers there!''

It took about seven seconds for Sirius to realise what he had said. In that time Snape was already running out of the front doors.

''SHIT. Shit. Shit...'' He cursed himself and ran a hand through his hair. How could he have been so stupid to have said that? He felt his hands shaking in anger at both himself and Snape and for a moment his mind went blank. Panic was starting to bubble up inside of him, something that didn't happen very often. Should he go after Snape? Stop him? At that moment Sirius had no idea what the hell he was going to do. It was then that he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Turning around on the stop he saw James and Peter racing down the stone steps taking them two at a time; James had the invisibility cloak in his hands.

''Padfoot? You look like you've seen a ghost.'' James said coming up level to his best friend. He frowned at the look on Sirius' face.

''I...I...Snape...Whomping Willow...Remus...'' Was all he could get out.

Realisation dawned on James' face and he stared at Sirius. ''How...how?'' Seeing the guilty look on the boys face hit James like a rock. He wasn't even aware of his actions and the next thing he knew all his anger that burst out of him and he had punched Sirius squarely in the face. ''WHAT THE FUCK PADFOOT? WHAT THE FUCK GOT INTO YOU TINY BRAIN AND MADE YOU TELL HIM? DO YOU EVER STOP AND THINK?'' James yelled furiously not even bothering to see if Sirius was okay. He then dragged Wormtail along as he ran out of the doors to do whatever he could to save the situation.

xoxox

It took several more minutes to realise that James had punched him. He could feel the blood trickling down his, what felt like a broken nose. Again he couldn't move from his spot, he could think of what to do. He just stood there in shock of what had just happened. Thoughts started to swirl around his head. What would happen is James couldn't get there quick enough? What would happen if Snape got to the end of the tunnel and found Moony? Merlin no it was too bearable to even think about. What the hell had he done?

It seemed like an age that he was standing there with no noise apart from his uneven breathing. Then out of the blue he could hear footsteps coming down the stairs again. Panicking slightly he waited until the unknown person turn the corner for him to see. It was Dumbledore. The headmaster didn't seem fazed to see Sirius standing there, his face covered in blood. The aged man walked up to him and peered down his half moon spectacles at him.

''Stay here. I'll go get Mr Potter, Mr Snape and Mr Pettigrew.'' He said calmly before walking off briskly the way that James and Snape had gone prier. Even though Dumbledore had been calm, Sirius knew he was going to be in a lot of trouble; those electric blue had said it all.

Before long Dumbledore was back with all three boys in tow. James wouldn't look at him and still seemed to be furious, Snape looked a mixture of scared and of loathing as he glared at him and Peter just seemed out of breath. With a little nod of his head, Sirius followed the other three boys silently up to Dumbledore's office where they filed in one by one.

Standing in front of his desk, Dumbledore looked down at the four boys in front of him. ''Sit down please and I would like someone to tell me what happened.''

Even though no one looked at him, Sirius could tell that they were waiting for him to explain, however before he could open his mouth, Snape cut across.''

''He tried to kill me that's what. Telling me to go down that stupid tunnel. It'd not safe having a damn werewolf in the school grounds; it shouldn't be allowed...it should-''

James cut across him, the look in his eyes dangerous. ''One more word Snape and I won't be responsible for my actions.'' He said his voice low.

''That's enough boys. Now Mr Black would you kindly tell me what happened?''

Sirius didn't dare look over to the others and just kept his eyes on the headmaster's desk. ''I was waiting for James and Peter...we...we were organising this prank and...I got to the Entrance Hall first and whilst I waited Snape turned up. He kept saying things about Remus and in the end...I don't know what made me say it...but I told him how to un-freeze the Whomping Willow and...'' he couldn't carry on anymore. It took all of his strength to not start shaking again.

''Then I presume Mr Snape did as you said just before Mr Potter and Mr Pettigrew turned up.'' Sirius just nodded. ''You do know the serious of you actions I take it Mr Black. If Mr Potter hadn't been there to save Mr Snape from pursuing further towards the Shrieking Shack then it could have been disastrous for both him and Mr Lupin.'' Another nod.

There was silence in the office with only just the soft ruffle of feathers from Dumbledore's phoenix.

''I think with the nature of this event we will have to confer with Mr Lupin in what he wants to happen. I must insist that you are the one to tell him of the events of tonight however Mr Black and for the mean time no drastic actions shall take place. It is possible however that what has happened could lead to expulsion.''

Sirius looked up at Dumbledore trying to keep calm. He should have known it might come to getting expelled. Again all he could do was nod. He didn't trust himself to open his mouth.

''Well then boys, Mr Black, Mr Potter and Mr Pettigrew, you may go for now. Mr Snape I wish to talk to you further. Mr Potter you will receive an award for you bravery tonight. Good night to you all.'' And with that he dismissed the three Gryffindor's. As they walked out off his office, down the revolving staircase and out onto the corridor there was no communication between the three boys. Sirius' face was still covered in blood as he walked several steps behind James and Peter. The two other Animagi didn't say anything to the boy behind them and kept on walking like he didn't even exist.

''Prongs, Wormtail...please I didn't mean to say it...'' Sirius said after a while as the silence was slowly driving him insane. He nearly walked into James as he stopped short in the middle of the corridor.

''It doesn't matter if you didn't mean to say it _Black_, you still did. Did you ever think of what could have happened to Moony if he had attacked Snape? They would have killed him. How the fuck did that not come into your head? Why did you have to say that to him? I don't even want to know what was going through your mind at that moment but you've really caused some shit now. Have fun telling Moony about what you did...oh and Lizzie.''

That hit him like a train. With everything that had been going on he had completely forgotten about his girlfriend. How the hell was he meant to tell her this? She'd hate him, probably forever.

''And don't talk to us okay?'' And with that James stalked off, Peter running to catch up leaving Sirius alone in the corridor to dwell on all the bad things that would most probably happen tomorrow.

xoxox

The morning came far too soon for Sirius' liking. He had managed to clean himself up, fix his broken nose and go to bed in the early hours of the morning and now he had woken up with the sun streaming into the dorm. It was quite apart from the snoozes of James and Peter. Knowing it was best to get up now then to wait for them to wake up, Sirius got out of bed and got himself dressed and ready before heading down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast. He knew his time was limited before he had to tell both Lizzie and Remus and so he tried to think about how to do it in the best way possible. The thing was he didn't know which was going to be harder to do. Tell his best fired or his girlfriend. Either way he would probably lose both of them.

As he ate a quick breakfast Sirius decided to go and tell Remus first. He knew it was the best thing to do seeing as it had affected him more and so he made his way up to the hospital wing, his feet dragging more and more with every step. Remus was the only person inside there that morning which was a little better. His friend seemed to be awake, staring at the opposite wall and looking in a terrible mess. It seemed that his presence was noticed and Remus turned to stare at him. He didn't happily greet him though which made Sirius suspect that he knew something about last night.

''Hi Moony, how you feeling?'' he asked. He knew he had to tread carefully otherwise things were going to be worse than they might have been originally.

''Fine.'' Was all he got in return. That confirmed his suspicions that Remus knew something about what had happened. ''James was here before you came in. He told me what happened...please tell me it's not true.''

Sirius felt the colour drain from his face. He knew no one had trusted him to tell Remus. He didn't look at his friend, just down at his feet. He didn't want to meet the disappointed eyes that he knew were there. Sirius didn't say anything either; he was too guilty to.

''What in the right mind made you say that Sirius? Don't you even care about me?''

Sirius' shocked expression met Remus' almost pained one. ''Of course I do Moony-''

''Well obviously you don't Sirius otherwise you wouldn't have done it. Do you ever think? Really? I mean I trusted you with my secret and now you've done this...well I'm sorry Sirius but I don't think I can trust you any longer.''

That hit him like a bomb shell. How could Moony not trust him? Well the answer to that was obvious but...they were the Marauders. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. They were always meant to stand by each other through bad and good but Sirius realised...what if he did deserve that? What if he deserved to be shunted out of the group?

''Moony please...''

''I don't think you're exactly in the best position to call me that at the moment Sirius. Can you just go? I just want some time alone.'' Sirius could hear the sadness in his voice knowing it was him who had put it there. It was the best thing he could do; just do what Moon-Remus wanted him to; that way he wouldn't cause any more trouble. He turned to go but not before he remembered something.

''Oh urmm, Dumbledore said that it's up to you on what happens from now on...just thought I'd tell you.'' And with that he left the hospital wing. Even though it was a week day, Sirius really didn't feel up for going to lessons. What was the point really? Remus was obviously going to say he should be expelled.

That thought had been daunting him all morning. What if he was expelled? He'd have to go back home, to where his parents were. He would have to put up with their disappointment and their lectures and their ways of 'sorting him out.' He shuddered at his. He didn't want to go home, never again; it would just cause him too much pain and this sort of pain he wouldn't be able to deal with.

Sirius' home life wasn't perfect. It was far from perfect and he hated how much control his parents had on him. He hated how they made him feel on a regular basis and how they had brain-washed his little brother into thinking that pureblood supremacy was the best. It was his mother who was the worst. He was always the one who felt it was her duty to deal with him. She was always the one who gave him all the crap. Of course Sirius had never told anyone what happened at home, only James, Remus and Peter. It was a subject that scared him because he didn't know what would happen to him or the people he loved if he told someone. His parents were crazy and knew some pretty dark magic, like most of his family did and so he wouldn't put it past them to do something that would turn his world upside down.

He had been determined right from the start not to tell Lizzie any of this. He didn't want to worry her at all and knew that if he did tell her...well he would never be able to live if something happened to her; he knew his girlfriend would do something about the situation. Lizzie was one of the most important people in the world for him and so keeping her safe was priority. Telling her about home or indeed telling his parents about her would lead to a lot of trouble and so even though part of him ached to tell her at least something, he kept quiet.

Sirius still had a bit of time before lessons started and so he reluctantly made his way back to the common room. He knew it was probably the worst place for him to go seeing as James would have probably told Lizzie and she was probably waiting for him. However he hadn't even gotten back to the common room before he heard his name being yelled.

''SIRIUS ORION BLACK!'' Of course it was Lizzie. Who else would it have been? He stopped and slowly turned around to see his girlfriend storming up to him and looking furious. As she drew level with him he felt the movement of her hand hitting the side of his face. The smack sounded loudly and as though by instinct, Sirius put a hand to his cheek, nursing it.

''Now Lele listen to me...'' He shut up straight away however by the look she gave him. It seemed James had told her everything and an apart of Sirius was scared about what she was going to say.

''No, you listen to me. How could you fucking do that Sirius? He trusted you and you hurt him in the worst way possible. How could you be so stupid? What the fuck was going through your mind when you told him that? I...I can't believe you'd do that Sirius. I thought you cared, I thought you understood how Remus felt about his condition, how insecure he felt. Bleeding hell Sirius I just...'' She seemed to be lost for words and Sirius had a large indication that she was trying not to cry.

''Baby please...'' He pleaded.

''No Sirius, don't you dare. You're not getting any sympathy from me. YOU WERE MEANT TO LOOK AFTER HIM, CARE FOR HIM BUT YOU JUST GO AND DO THAT! I THOUGH YOU ALL WERE LIKE BROTHERS? WELL NEWS FLASH MISTER, HE _IS_ MY BROTHER AND YOU'VE HURT HIM MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER KNOW. You hurt me more than you'll ever know. Just stay away from me, from him, from all of us okay? I can't do this Sirius...it just hurts so much...'' He could see the tears in her eyes now and knew how disappointed in him she was. He tried to say something but the words were caught in his mouth. He just watched as she turned away from him and down the corridor. He could hear her stifled sobs and felt his heart break.

It was finally then that he realised how much damage he had done, how much he had hurt the two people he cared the most about. It was then after that, that he realised this was the first time he had made Lizzie cry this year...and it was the worst feeling in the world.

Xoxox

However terrible and slow the following week was there was one good thing about it. He wasn't expelled. He had honestly thought that it would have been the first thing Remus had said, but after the indication that Remus didn't hate him, Sirius had been landed with a month's detention, a letter being written home and a whole load of points being knocked off Gryffindor. Apart from that little glimmer of hope however, none of his friends were talking to him. It felt strange to be in the same room with them and not have a conversation going. It also made him feel extremely lonely, something he only really felt at home.

If his friends were ignoring him was bad enough, Lizzie hadn't spoken a word to him since she had shouted at him. Without her by his side he left lost, not knowing what to do. He had heard about how after she had shouted at him she had gone and done the same to Snape. This gave him a little hope knowing he wasn't the only one she was angry at but it would have been nicer if she wasn't angry with him at all.

The letter he had got from home had been one of his worst yet. He didn't usually get many howlers anymore and so the contents of this one had seemed far worse than they probably would have been if the number of howlers were up like they used to be. The content had shaken him up a lot that day and Sirius was so glad that he hadn't been expelled.

xoxox

It seemed that Sirius wasn't the only one finding it hard that week. Lizzie had had a rather rough time to what having a rather big argument with Snape and not talking to Sirius. It was true that she had been nearly as furious at the Slytherin then at her boyfriend. He had put Remus in danger and she wouldn't have anyone put her brother in danger. It just came to show how much she did care for Remus. Some people thought it was just a normal sibling type of caring but it really wasn't. She didn't know whether it was because they were twins or whether it was because of Remus' illness, but Lizzie cared for him a lot more than anyone else. She wouldn't be anything without her brother and it would be one of her biggest fears if they stopped talking to each other.

That was why she had completely stopped talking to Sirius, because she wasn't sure if Remus would have wanted her talking to him or not. Seeing as what he had done she took the answer as no but it still pained her to see Sirius on his own nearly all of the time. No one deserved to be lonely, absolutely no one. She had tried to talk to James about maybe speaking to him again but the boy had refused, something that had joined her list of things pissing her off that week. Lily had wondered why she had shouted at Snape, something Lizzie had told her was obvious; it seemed everyone had mixed views that week.

By Saturday, a week after 'the incident', Lizzie had had enough. She was going to talk to Sirius whether the others liked it or not. It had pained her so much to see him about the common room or at the Gryffindor table at meals just sitting there, isolated and not talking to anyone. The anger she had had because of him had long since died away and there was a part of her that was aching to go talk to him. The thing was she didn't know where he was. He had gone out of the common room not so long ago.

Deciding to go and find him, she vacated her comfy arm chair and walked out of the common room, nobody giving a second glance to where she was going. She knew her brother and Lily were out on duty tonight and so she hoped to bump into them and ask if they had seen Sirius. Lizzie was worrying slightly, hoping he was okay and not letting this whole situation get to him too much but she knew it was. She could always see it in his expression.

Thankfully she did meet Remus and Lily on her way; both were confused as to why she was out of the common room this late at night.

''Do either of you know where Sirius is?'' She asked, trying to sound causal but wanting to find him as quick as she could.

''He was heading in the Astronomy Tower direction last time I saw him.'' Remus said frowning a little. ''Why?''

Lizzie sighed and looked at her brother. ''Because no one deserves to be alone, no matter what they've done wrong.'' And she walked off leaving the two Gryffindor's standing the in the middle of the corridor having no idea what she was on about.

It seemed to be her lucky night as she reached the top of the Astronomy Tower and saw Sirius leaning against the railing, his back to her looking out into the dark night. She could see little puffs of smoke and saw he was holding a cigarette. Frowning at this new discovery, she made herself known by clearing her voice. She saw Sirius turn around quickly, trying to hide the cigarette.

''Mind if I join you?'' She asked. After a moment or two she saw him nod in agreement and so she walked over to his side and leaned slightly with her hands on the railing. There was a silence between the two but thankfully not an uncomfortable one.

''Didn't know you smoked.'' Lizzie said after a while.

''Don't very often. Only when I'm extremely stressed. '' They both just carried on looking out at the starry night.

''It's bad for you.'' Lizzie said almost instantly. She knew what the effects of smoking could do to people; her granddad smoked nearly all the time.

''Why do you care?'' Lizzie tensed slightly at the sharpness of his voice but didn't let it affect her.

''Just because I was angry at you doesn't mean I don't care Sirius. Of course I care about you. A lot more than that would take me to stop caring.'' She took his hand and held it in hers, squeezing it tightly. ''I love you and I'm sorry if me not talking to you hurt you. I never meant it to.'' She didn't look at him because she didn't want to see what his reaction was.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him stub out the cigarette and flick it out into the night. She felt him put a hand on her waist and gently turn her to face him. He didn't look angry or upset, he just looked happy that she was there with him.

''I love you too Lizzie and I'm so sorry about what I did, please believe me...''

''I do believe you.'' She stood on tip toes slightly to kiss him, closing her eyes to take in yet another amazing moment. It didn't matter to her if he smelt of smoke (even if she hated the smell). All that mattered was that she was here kissing her boyfriend. They broke apart, identical smiles appearing on their faces.

''You have to promise me you'll never do anything like that ever again.''

''Of course I promise. I hurt both you and Remus. I never want to do that again.'' She could tell he was genuinely sorry and felt a pang of regret for not talking to him all week. ''I'll do anything to make it up to you love.'' Lizzie didn't have to think hard about this request.

''One, stop smoking. Please. Two...tell...tell me about home...if you don't mind.'' Lizzie had been in the Great Hall when she had heard that howler go off. It had been one of the worst things she had heard and the content had been something she had never imagined a mother say to her son. She saw Sirius' face drain of colour a bit and knew she had probably said the wrong thing. ''You don't have to Siri, I shouldn't have said any-'' but he cut her off.

''No Lizzie, you're right. I should tell you. I've kept you in the dark for far too long.'' He had to brave, Sirius knew. He had to tell her something even though he had sworn he wouldn't. It wasn't fair on her that he kept all of his emotions locked up. She was his girlfriend after all, always here to help and be there for him. He sat down on the floor, motioning Lizzie to sit down with him. She sat down next to him and he instantly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. He felt her head rest on his shoulder and for once he felt safe.

''Home isn't the best place. It never really has been. It's not much of a home either. Mother and Father...well they've always been obsessed with being pureblood and would rather have all the muggles, muggle-borns and half bloods killed.'' He hadn't meant to say the last bit as he had and felt Lizzie tense slightly. Kissing her on the side of her head, he continued. ''The Black's have always been associated with the dark side and everyone apart from me has been in Slytherin. When I was put into Gryffindor everything became a disaster. I got howlers nearly all the time and well...they made my life a living hell for then on. Not that they exactly liked me before anyway. Regulus was always their favourite'' He said bitterly. He tightened his grip around Lizzie, just making sure that he wasn't alone in speaking about it all.

''The closest person I have in my family is my cousin Andromeda, but I don't get to see her very often. She managed to get out; at least someone in the family did. I just...I don't feel like I belong Lele, I never have. I hate them all. I hate the house. It's so dark and grim and it brings back too many bad memories.''

''What memories honey?'' Lizzie knew she was maybe over stepping a little but she wanted to know. ''I'm here sweetheart, you can tell me anything.''

Sirius breathed in slowly. He knew he had to tell her. Maybe it would be better getting it out to one more person. The other Marauders knew but maybe not the whole truth. ''They're not the best parents in the world. If I slipped up just once I'd get punished. It all depended on what mood mother was in to whether it was bad or not. She hates that I made friends with James and Remus and Peter. She hates that I'm in Gryffindor. If she found out about you, she'd hate you too and...and I can't have that.''

Lizzie pushed gently away from her position to look up into Sirius' eyes. She could tell he was finding it hard to tell her much and she wasn't going to push him any further. ''Sirius listen to me. When you go home for the summer you do whatever you can to keep yourself out of harm's way okay? Even if that means coming over to mine or staying with James all summer. I don't want you to get hurt just because I'm your girlfriend. You mean so much to me.''

''I love you.'' Was all he could say. Maybe that was enough talking for tonight. He was thankful she hadn't asked what punishment. The remains of past Cruciatus Curses flashed in front of his mind.

''I love you too Siri and I promise that I will do everything I can to keep you safe. '' She hugged him knowing how much just that small bit of talking had affected him. ''Come on honey, let's get back. We don't want Filch to catch us.'' She took Sirius' hand and helped him up, not letting go of it at all. She led the way back to the common room thankful that they met no one. Climbing through the portrait hole she found the common room empty. Not wanting to say goodnight to Sirius just yet, she lead them over to the sofa where they sat down, Sirius immediately snuggling into her. Lizzie knew tonight the roles were going to be reversed; she was the one looking after him and she silently promised to do a better job in the future.

''I'm here. I'll always be here. I promise you. And don't worry about Remus and James. They'll come around once they know I'm talking to you. '' There was silence from Sirius and Lizzie pulled him closer to her, starring into the slowly dying fire. She knew he was falling asleep but she didn't mind. ''I Love you Sirius. More then you'll ever know.'' She whispered kissing the top of his head as his breathing slowed to a sleepy pace.

After several more minutes of silence she knew he was finally asleep. ''Good night Sirius.'' She said quietly, knowing that for tonight she wasn't going to get much sleep. Sirius needed her even though he never really said it out load or in any obvious way. Tonight she would be thinking of ways of saving her boyfriend from where he had been forced to call home.

''I'll save you baby. Even if it kills me.''

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><p><strong>So cute don't'cha think? It's nnearly my summer hols (woo) so updating will be quicker I hope xxx<strong>


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello my lovelies! Sorry for the late chapter. It was meant to be up earlier but I was really busy. Here it is though :) The next one might hopefully be up Wednesday/Thursday time. I got a bit sad seeing as I only got one review on the last chapter but eh I'll live. This one's for my LoeLoe :) Enjoy xx**

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><p>April had merged into late May and the exam stress of the OWL and NEWT students was getting high. After 'the incident' the four Marauders were back together again causing a lot more mischief than usual. They had also been starting on something that they wouldn't let anyone else know about. But then that was the Marauders for you; always full of mystery. All the fifth and seventh years could be seen at any free time of the day revising over everything they had learned and everything they would need for their exams. Even the Marauders (minus Remus who was already stressing out greatly) could be seen to knuckle down and do some revising even though Sirius and James were adamant that they didn't need to do anything because they already knew it all.<p>

Nobody really paid any attention to the confidence of the two Gryffindor's. Everyone knew they would probably fly by all of the exams. Although they spent most of their times pulling pranks, there was always a genius behind them. However, no matter how amazing their pranks were, they didn't seem to please many people who were trying to work. Lily had been known to shout herself horse a lot at the boys which had caused her stress levels to rise dramatically. Lily and Remus weren't the only ones who seemed to be shorter tempered than usual. Lizzie too was starting to crack over the load of homework and revising and it wasn't rare for her to hide in the library to actually get some work done.

As well as the exams coming up, Peter and Vickie had broken up. Lizzie had tried not to sound too pleased about this but had failed in trying to hide her relief. They weren't a good couple; they never had been in her eyes. They had just looked...wrong. Sirius had made her keep quiet though seeing as Peter was his friend and he looked rather heartbroken. Lizzie however couldn't stop herself rolling her eyes every time she saw him moping about. It had been the same kind of reaction with all the girls, before she had started dating Sirius. Every time she had heard that he had broken up with another girl (she found herself lucky that they had lasted as long as they had) she would see them crying for at least a week afterwards, something she found ridiculous seeing as most of his relationships only lasted around a week or two.

Xoxox

It was a Thursday and Lizzie and Lily had come into the common room after dinner to study for their Ancient Runes exam which would be their first on Monday. They had sat at one of the small tables away from the middle of the common room hoping to have a little more peace and quiet. They had their big, heavy books scattered across the table and were testing each other on what each of the ruins said and symbolised. They were doing fine for about half an hour before the Marauders came in. They looked at each other, knowing that their study time would probably be disrupted for tonight but tried to carry on working. However it seemed the boys (even Remus) had plans to disrupt the evening's events.

It was the first firework that did it for Lily. She got out of her chair so fast that it fell over and Lizzie watched as she stormed over to James, fury on her face. ''POTTER!'' She yelled and instantly the whole common room became silent. By now everyone loved it when Lily shouted at James. ''What the hell to you think you're doing?''

''Just creating some stress relief before the exams Lily Flower.'' James said grinning to her. He didn't seem fazed at all by her shouting though he never did.

''If I catch one more disturbance than I will tell McGonagall. Why don't you sit down and study for once?''

''Because I don't need to Flower.''

Lizzie was sure her best friend was going to shout the ceiling down at any moment. Her face had gone as red as her hair with anger. ''NOT ALL OF US CAN PASS EXAMS WITHOUT WORKING FOR IT POTTER. MAYBE YOU SHOULD GET THAT INTO THAT THICK SKULL OF YOURS. YOU TOO BLACK!'' And with that she stormed out of the common room. Lizzie knew Lily had been having a bad day and this had defiantly been the peak of it. She knew she'd better go after Lily, but she would probably want come time to cool down so she left her.

As she got on with her studying alone it wasn't long before she was interrupted again, this time by her brother. He picked up Lily's fallen chair and sat opposite her. Lizzie looked up from her book and smiled at Remus. He seemed as tired as she felt. There were dark circles under his eyes and his hair looked like he had run his hands through it in frustration a few times.

''What's up Rem?'' She asked.

''Lils having a bad day?'' He asked his sister seeing how tired she was.

''Yep. She's not the only one either. I've got so much to learn before Monday; it's driving me crazy. I've got Ancient Runes in the morning and History of Magic in the afternoon, plus Astronomy at night. Then on Tuesday we have Care of Magical Creatures and Potions, Wednesday its Charms and Herbology, Thursday it's both written and practical Defence and then on Friday it's Transfiguration. Seriously why they had to cram everything in a week I'll never know. Plus I've got to go over Transfiguration again because I did my notes wrong and – '' She stopped her worry rant to see her brother chuckling at her. ''What's so funny Remus?'' She said glaring at him slightly.

''You're working yourself too hard. You're panicking yourself too much and that's never good because if you over panic then you're going to lose concentration.'' This seemed to not help the situation at all as Lizzie looked like she was going to panic about panicking too much. ''So I think you should have a rest for tonight, just relax. Have fun.''

Lizzie sighed and looked down at her page in the book. It suddenly seemed to turn very complicated and she knew she couldn't rest. ''I can't Rem, I need to do this chapter at least. If I fail anything I'll never be happy with myself.''

''You're not going to fail anything Lizzie. You're one of the brightest in the year.''

''That doesn't mean anything Remus. Everything could change once I get into the exam.''

''Which is why I told you to stop panicking. Now, come on or I'll get Sirius to come over here and stop you working.'' Remus grinned at her and got out of the chair, grabbed his sister's arm and dragged her over to where the other boys were. Sirius and James were play fighting again and Peter was egging them on. The twins sat down on the sofa and watched them for a while. ''Have you actually told mum about you and Sirius?'' Remus asked.

Lizzie looked at him as though he was mad. ''Of course I haven't Remus. I mean I've tried but I think it's better to tell her in person.'' Her mum didn't really like Sirius (all because of Lizzie's own 'hating' of him before) and so she had found it hard to tell her that she was now dating the one person she said she would never date.

''So you're telling me that you're finally going to tell mum when it's close to your sixth month anniversary?'' Remus asked thinking his sister was leaving it extremely late. He knew why she was leaving it, their mother had always liked Sirius the least but maybe it was better to tell her sooner than later.

''Yeah that's right.'' Lizzie said not seeing the whole thing as a big ordeal. She watched as her boyfriend tackled James to the floor claiming victory only to be flipped onto the floor himself by Prongs who had suddenly got a boost of strength. She watched as the two rolled around on the floor before they called it quits and got off each other. She felt the sofa sag next to her as Sirius sat down and put an arm around her.

''Lele do you have any chocolate?'' He asked panting slightly out of breath.

''Yeah but you're not having any.'' She said looking at him and grinning. She saw Sirius pout and she stuck out her tongue. ''Nope it's mine.''

Suddenly she squealed as Sirius started tickling her. She tried to move out of the way but she slipped off the sofa and fell onto the floor. Sirius was on top of her in an instant, still tickling her. Lizzie tried to push him off but he was too strong for her. The struggle lasted another couple of minutes before Sirius stopped.

''Do you surrender all you're chocolate to me?'' He asked. Lizzie was still trying to catch her breath from laughing too much. She shook her head and the tickling resumed. At last it was James who saved her as he charged into Sirius who was caught in surprise and it made him fall over. Unfortunately he seemed to fall forward onto Lizzie, James on top of him.

''Oi! Off!'' Lizzie commanded as she was losing the feeling in her right leg as both the boys weight seemed to be on it. James got off grinning from ear to ear as always. He pulled Sirius up who in turn helped Lizzie to her feet. Seeing as Remus had vacated the sofa when the tickling had started, the three friends collapsed on it feeling tired out. Sirius once more had his arm around Lizzie and she moved closer towards him, cuddling into him. James had started a game of Exploding Snap with Peter and Remus had disappeared off into one of his books. Really, Remus had been right. Relaxing a little made you feel a lot better. _He's Remus dear; he always knows what's right._

Xoxox

As the week went on, the panic and stress in the school had reached an all time high. The exams weren't the only thing that had caused chaos. On Thursday morning the Daily Prophet had shown several cases of disappearances and strange deaths, something that had shocked the whole Wizarding community. Everyone had known about the constant rising of You-Know-Who but activity had been on a low for some time. It felt weird to have so much danger outside when there wasn't any sign of it within the walls of Hogwarts. The news had shocked the whole school and had sent a shaken feeling around as there had been a few students who the tragedies had hit. Lizzie had got a concerned letter from her parents which meant they were obviously worried about the events. It was the fear that was the worst really; you never knew when it was coming or how long it was going to stay.

With all the stress, Lizzie's temper had grown shorter especially and surprisingly with Lily. It had all started with 'The Incident' that they all liked to call it now. Lily hadn't been very pleased with her for having a go at Snape, something Lizzie thought was stupid. She had had every right to shout at the Slytherin for putting her brother in danger. Yes she knew it had been Sirius who had told him in the first place, but he didn't have to go and do as he had said. She had told Lily what could have happened to Remus if he had attacked someone but all she was willing to do was to blame Sirius. It seemed Lily was on a war-path with the Marauders for some reason, especially James and Sirius.

That was enough really to set Lizzie off and she had had a big argument with her best friend. They had sort of made up after but both were still a little rocky with each other. Lizzie had spent most of her time with the boys that weekend because she knew it was only best and would help her not shout at Lily anymore. She didn't want to be angry at her, it was just what she had said had infuriated her more than she had expected.

It was on Sunday that she really lost her temper. She and Lily had just come out of the library when they had bumped into the person she least wanted to see; Snape. It was hard to think that just eight months ago they had been best friends. Obviously it had just been one of those things that were never meant to be. He was talking quietly to some of his fellow Slytherins. Thankfully, Lizzie thought, Regulus wasn't with them. As they walked past she saw Snape turn to look at them, smiling at Lily but scowling at her. Lizzie scowled back at him, plus several of the others who had stopped in mid conversation when they had passed.

'' Probably thinking of how to torture muggles over the summer or something.'' Lizzie muttered under her breath so they couldn't hear her. There had also been rumours in the Daily prophet that Voldemort was recruiting followers as young as sixteen which meant, if it were true, students at Hogwarts who thought Voldemort's ways were right would become Death Eaters. Of course no one knew for sure but it was likely that was what was going to happen.

''Oh don't be ridiculous.'' Lily said making the idea sound absurd. Lizzie knew though that her thought would probably happen. She looked over at her best friend as they made their way back to the common room but Lily didn't turn to face her.

''I'm not Lily. We all know what's going to happen to most of them over the summer, everyone's expecting it.''

She saw Lily stop and she too came to a halt. Lizzie could see that her best friend was getting annoyed with her but for once she didn't care. Maybe she could get all of this out of her system and make her feel less stressed.

''The Daily Prophet is full of conspiracies. None of them are going to become Death Eaters. Just because the paper says Voldemort is recruiting younger people doesn't mean to say that it's true. '' Lizzie knew that neither of them were going to back down from this. It was an argument that had been ignored for far too long.

''Lily listen to me. That group of Slytherins back there are in huge favour of the Dark Arts. They'll probably carry it on after school but that's not it. Voldemort wants followers. They're probably going to jump at the chance to get some power or something. You can't always see the good in people Lily because sometimes, just sometimes, people have hardly any good in them at all.'' Lizzie kept her calm but she could feel the anger rising. If Lily wanted to be blind to what was going to happen, well she couldn't help that. But if she was going to simply refuse that none of them could become Death Eaters...well that was going a bit too far.

''Oh of course.'' Lily scoffed. ''And I bet you're putting Severus into that category.''

''Lily! He's interested in the Dark Arts, he always has been. He doesn't care that much about people, say apart from you and I'd bet he wouldn't care about killing a few people once he's older!'' The tension between the two girls was getting thicker and thicker by the second.

''You really are pathetic Lizzie. Just because he did some things wrong, just because he may have upset you a bit doesn't mean you can say that about him. He may be interested in the Dark Arts but he'd never hurt anyone-''

Lizzie cut across her quickly. ''HE NEARLY HURT REMUS, LILY. You have no idea what could have happened to him! He's not a bloody saint for Merlin's sake!'' She shouted not being able to keep her temper. She clenched her fists trying to calm herself down but it wasn't working. Why was Lily being so oblivious? Lizzie had told her time and time again over the past eight months that Snape was no good, that he had a more dangerous motive but she wouldn't listen to her and that really infuriated Lizzie.

''That wasn't his fault Lizzie! Sirius was the one who told him. You can't blame him for that! That was all your boyfriends doing.'' At this, Lizzie just glared at Lily, feeling a tiny hint of hurt come through the anger.

''What have you got against Sirius? You act as though you're fine with him when he's around but then after his backs turned you just mouth him off. James as well. Really Lily what the hell do you have against them?''She had wanted to ask that question for ages. It had never become clear to her why Lily hated the two boys so much.

''Because Lizzie, they are arrogant, big-headed bullies who think they're better than everyone else. They think they're so clever being able to pass exams without any studying and it's them who don't care about many people. They just strut around like they own the place and think they're so big because they can play a few measly jokes on people. James is just an arrogant toe-rag and Sirius just pretends to love people just to get them in bed with him!''

Lizzie just stared at her shocked. She had never expected her best friend to come out with that. She didn't know what the boys were really like. She had never gotten to know them properly. All Lily saw was the outside and not how they really were. Yes they both could be complete idiots sometimes but they were kind, loyal and cared about their friends so much. Lily was just looking at them from a glance and that annoyed Lizzie. She knew Lily wasn't one to judge people from when she first saw them so why was she doing it to the two boys? Lizzie could feel the anger at bursting point still but she kept it under control.

''The only reason you act the way you do towards James is because you're too scared to admit you like him.'' She was surprised with what she had just said but didn't show it. She saw Lily's eyes narrow like slits and knew she was about to get yelled at.

''Well you know what? Sirius doesn't love you; you're just too desperate for a boyfriend to realise!'' Lily said her voice raised.

There was silence before Lizzie walked off, not saying a word to her. She made her way back to the common room silently, her mind racing with what Lily had just said. She managed to climb through the portrait hole, walked across the common room to the stairs of the girls dormitories without stopping (even though she was sure she had heard her name being called), opened the door of the dorm, shut it and collapsed onto her bed before she broke down. It hurt that she had argued with Lily. It hurt that her best friend was angry at her but most of all it hurt because of what she had said. It made Lizzie think that maybe she was right about Sirius...maybe he was just using her. After all it had happened many times before to other girls. But what was he using her for? She didn't have anything she could give him. He was clever enough to not have to go to her for constant lesson help. He had plenty of friends and admirers so it wasn't like he needed any more attention. He could get any girl in the whole school so why did he want her?

_Because he loves you to pieces and has been fighting to get you for nearly three years._

She knew she should listen to her conscience, after all it had been right every other time, but she just couldn't. Maybe this whole thing was as Lily had said. Maybe she was just too desperate to have someone to love her that she didn't see what the relationship between her and Sirius really was.

This made the tears that were falling down her cheeks fall even faster. She tried her hardest not to cry (she hated it when she did) but the tears and sobs just kept coming. She just wished Lily would see that she was right; Snape was going to become a future Death Eater and he couldn't be trusted. However she knew she was oblivious by the fact that she had Snape had been friends since before Hogwarts and so thought he was could do less harm then others thought.

_One day she'll realise; she'll understand that you were trying to protect her. _

''Why did she have to go and say that?'' She whispered to the empty room. Only silence answered her and she could feel more tears coming. Lizzie hated being alone, absolutely hated it and at the moment she felt more alone then she had done in a long time. This was the sort of feeling she got when she was younger and at home. Remus would be in the middle of a transformation and both her parents would be asleep or one asleep and one at work. She would sit on her bed and wait for the sun to rise again so she would have her brother back. No one else seemed to care if she was upset or scared (basically because she never told anyone because she thought they'd just think she was attention seeking) and she just wished that someone apart from Remus (who even now always knew when something was wrong with her) would realise that she too needed taking care of. It was always the full moons that were worse. Her brother had always been her best friend and not having him around was the most awful feeling in the world. Now she had friends it wasn't that bad but every once in a while she would wake up from a nightmare and wish she could go and tell Remus all about it. She was old enough not to need to go for help now though but sometimes...just sometimes she wished she could tell her brother everything that was going on in her mind.

A sudden knock at the door brought her back to her senses and she wiped the tears away with her sleeve even though to anyone who came in, it would be very obvious that she had been crying.

''Who is it?'' She asked quietly hoping it wasn't Lily. She didn't think she could face her right now.

''It's Beth, can I come in?'' She heard her friend ask on the other side of the door.

'Yeah.' Lizzie said, staying in her position on the bed, not feeling up to sitting up. She saw the door open and Beth come in, a concerned look on her face. She closed the door behind her and made her way over to where Lizzie was and sat on the edge of her bed.

''You okay Lizzie? You look like you've been crying.''

Lizzie sighed knowing there was no point in lying to her friend. ''Yeah...me and Lily had an argument...just some of the things she said upset me that's all.'' She didn't want to go into detail and she could tell that Beth knew that.

''Okay, well just remember I'm always here if you need to talk. Lily looked a bit upset about something too when she came into the common room. Rem told me to tell you that you can come and tell him anything. In fact he said he advices you too.'' She saw Beth smile and Lizzie couldn't help but smile too. She knew her brother would want to know what was wrong and this time Lizzie knew she couldn't keep anything else from him. It wasn't fair to him really and she knew how much her brother hated that she kept stuff from him.

''Do you want to come done?'' Beth asked.

Lizzie shook her head. No, she didn't want to go down there if Lily was down there. Not yet. ''No Bethy, I'll be fine. I'm just tired and stressed that's all.'' She gave her friend a reassuring smile that probably didn't convince her enough.

''Okay Lizzie. I'll leave you to have a rest. Come down later though yeah? The boys are going to put on a show to lighten everyone's spirits before tomorrow.'' Beth got up to go again and not before turning back to Lizzie. ''You two will be fine. It's just the exam stress that's getting to you both. I promise.'' And with that she was gone.

Lizzie thought for a while. Would she and Lily be okay again? She knew they probably would. They had had stupid fights before and had always made up. But there was a part of her that was worrying that she might have lost her best friend. It was a horrible feeling; one Lizzie wanted to disappear but didn't know how to get it away. As she continued to over think the situation with her and Lily as well with her and Sirius her mind seemed to shut down telling her she needed sleep. And so finally giving in, Lizzie feel asleep hoping that everything would be okay when she woke up.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay we had some of Lizzie's conscience. I love that thing xD I needed to do an argument because it leads up better to the next chapter :) xx<strong>


	25. Sorry

Hi guys,

I feel so bad for not continuing this, but my muse has been gone for such a long time. I got a review the other day asking me to update soon and I thought I had my muse back; I just can't carry on at the moment. I love this story and I have it all planned out in my head, I just can't get it down into words. I'm so sorry for leaving you all hanging for nearly a year now.

I hope it comes back one day because I will continue this story, but for now, I just can't. So much has happened and I can't carry on this anymore. Again I'm so sorry and I'm sorry to disappoint you guys. Really.


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